College Football

Leonard expects great fit with Colts

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 6:57 p.m. ET

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(STATS) - The Indianapolis Colts are switching to a 4-3 base defense this season and second-round pick Darius Leonard from South Carolina State believes he's perfectly suited for it.

He even feels he can play any of the three linebacker spots.

"I think in the 4-3, that will free me up a lot and I will be able to run around," Leonard said.

That's what the two-time MEAC defensive player of the year did in college, tracking down 394 ball carriers to set the South Carolina State career record. Nineteen tackles came in a 2016 game at Clemson, his first college choice, because he wanted to follow his half-brother Anthony Waters.

After a scholarship offer didn't materialize at Clemson, Leonard decided to go downstate to South Carolina State, and he quickly realized it was a great fit because of its rich football tradition, which includes three former players in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

When the Colts made the 6-foot-2, 234-pound Leonard the first FCS player selected in this year's draft - at No. 36 overall - he became SCSU's sixth draft pick this decade. That's third-best in the FCS.

And now the first-team STATS FCS All-American feels the Colts are a perfect fit.

"Athletic, quick, fast," Leonard described his playing style. "Somebody who is quick and fast and will come downhill and hit you."

Said ESPN analyst Todd McShay: "He's one of the most underrated players in this whole draft."

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