Grade

4th Round - 5th Round

2026 Draft Class

Bryce Boettcher

Grade

B+

Status

DraftedR4 • P135Indianapolis Colts

Oregon

6'1 1/8"

230lbs

Age 24

Aug 5, 2026

Executive Summary

Bryce Boettcher is an instinctive, physical linebacker whose run recognition, reliable tackling, relentless pursuit, and surprisingly strong coverage ability give him a high floor at the next level.

Strengths

Coverage Ability, Angles / Pursuit, and Game IQ

Weaknesses

Athleticism and Pass Rush / Blitz Ability

Full Scouting Report

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Game IQ / Play Recognition

Pros:

•Recognizes the desired running lane extremely well

•Puts himself in good positions to make a play

•Can read a screen and react pretty well

•Overall play recognition is solid

Cons:

•Can lose guys in the backfield when there is too much traffic

•Bites on play actions way too hard

•Need to see him rip at the ball more

Tackling / Physicality

Pros:

•Good pad level a good amount of the time

•Good wrap-ups

•Can weed through the trash to get to the ball carrier

•Has shown an ability to hold his own

•Attacks the back hip effectively

•Pretty consistently completes the tackle

•Ton of physicality and seeks contact

Cons:

•Ends up catching guys, which gives him no leverage going into the tackle

•He isn’t strong enough to come in and rely on a bear hug to halt a ball carrier's momentum

•Susceptible to being juked out because if he gets caught going one way, that is where he is going

•Ball carriers tend to get an extra 2-3 yards after he makes initial contact with them

•Needs to keep his pad level low

Angles / Pursuit

Pros:

•Comes up and closes the gap between the ball carrier and him extremely quickly once he reads the play

•Relentless pursuer of the ball

•Flows to the ball very well and is usually there to clean up a play or be the one making the play

Cons:

•Taken bad angles which led to him giving up the outside gap for big chunk plays

•Despite being a hard pursuer of the QB, it hasn’t led to a surplus of sacks

Run Defense / Block Shedding

Pros:

•Good block shedder considering he is undersized

•Does a good job positioning himself in a place where he can keep his eyes in the backfield and adjusts accordingly

•Beats the OL to the punch to get hands off

•Good overall run defense

Cons:

•Occasionally struggles to get off tough o-line blocks

•Gets driven back more than you would like by OL

Coverage Ability

Pros:

•Good ball skills to pick off a deflected pass against Northwestern and nearly had two

•Has enough speed to hang with receivers on drag routes and other speed routes

•Makes great plays on the ball with impressive ball tracking and timing skills

•Picks up guys out of the backfield well

•Surprisingly decent in man coverage

Cons:

•Can be late to see inbreaking routes when he is the vertical dropper in Tampa 2

•Could do a better job keeping his vision to both sides of the field in coverage because he can get manipulated by QBs' eyes

Athleticism / Frame / Range

Pros:

•7.14 RAS Score

•34.5 inch vertical is barely above average, placing him in the 53rd percentile

•118 inch broad jump places him in the 52nd percentile

•4.30 shuttle run puts him in the 51st percentile

•6’1 ⅛” is okay

Cons:

•4.69 40 time is just barely below average

•7.25 3-cone drill places him in the 30th percentile

•Lacks quick twitch and lateral movement

•Extremely mid-tier to average athleticism

•30-inch arms will limit his tackling range

•233 is underweight historically

•21 reps on bench is in the 36th percentile

•Looks smaller on tape

Pass Rush / Blitz Ability

Pros:

•Can absolutely light up a running back trying to come up and make a block

•Creates pressure on inside blitzes to the A and B gap pretty consistently

•Fires into gaps extremely well

Cons:

•Struggles to create penetration on blitzes in the running game

•Lack of production despite creating pressure

•Doesn’t have a toolbox to get by a guard or tackle consistently in the pass rush

Games Watched:

•Week 3 vs NU, Week 5 vs PSU, Week 8 vs WIS, Week 10 vs MINN, Week 11 vs USC, Week 12 vs WASH

Ideal Situation:

•Bryce Boettcher is an underrated LB in my opinion. Boettcher can dissect and read running lanes extremely well. He is always seemingly right in the hole waiting to make a play on the ball carrier. While Boettcher does have shorter arms, I never saw it affect his ability to wrap up and secure tackles. He was a very reliable tackler for the Ducks. He seeks out contact and is always willing to help clean up a tackle. Boettcher pursues the ball incredibly hard and displays great hustle. Boettcher is solid against the run, and despite having shorter arms, I actually think he sheds blocks decently well. Boettcher has great coverage instincts and can hold his own in man coverage despite not being the most athletic LB ever. He was an elite baseball player and was even drafted by the Houston Astros in the 13th Round in 2024. Because of that, he has tremendous ball-tracking skills. He gets pass breakups, and INTs look easy for a position that doesn’t normally offer that. Boettcher is decent in zone, although he could be better. The dual-athlete is a decent blitzer. He actually does a really solid job creating pressure and pursuing the QB; he just simply doesn’t quite have the closing speed to finish plays. Boettcher needs to improve before he can wear the green dot for an NFL team or be a reliable starter. Because he isn’t the tallest, it is hard for him to keep track of the ball carrier at times. Boettcher also really needs to be more disciplined, as he tends to bite a lot on play-action fakes. Boettcher definitely doesn’t have knockback play strength; most of the time, when he makes a tackle, the RB still gets 2-3 extra yards. The main reason for this is that he relies on wrapping up and halting momentum rather than attacking the ball carrier. This typically means he is a more consistent tackler but not the greatest in goal line or short yardage scenarios, so there is a tradeoff to being as consistent as he is. Boettcher does get caught taking bad angles to ball carriers at times, and despite being such a high-effort pursuer of the QB, it has yet to lead to many sacks. Boettcher also struggles to shed blocks off of really good OL. His man coverage is surprisingly decent, but in zone he sometimes is late to see inbreaking routes and is too focused on the QB's eyes. As an athlete, he is incredibly average to slightly below average. Nothing is gonna really stand out about his raw ability compared to other guys in the class. He is also relatively undersized for the position. As a pass rusher and blitzer, he doesn’t have the pure talent to finesse or power his way through a lineman, but he does have the speed to beat them to gaps to create pressure. Bryce Boettcher was selected by the Indianapolis Colts with the 135th Pick in the 4th Round of the 2026 NFL Draft. He currently projects as the starting SLB (strongside LB). This was a little surprising to me, but I am not entirely surprised, as the Colts have been a little thin at the LB position. The Colts' LB room is pretty young, as another rookie will be playing alongside the former Duck in CJ Allen out of Georgia, whom the Colts drafted in the 2nd round of this year's draft. In two starting seasons, Bryce Boettcher has had a clean injury portfolio. Boettcher is an older prospect as he just turned 24 this month before playing a snap in the NFL, which will slightly limit his ceiling. You know what you are getting in Boettcher as he is a reliable tackler who brings physicality and solid coverage skills to the team. He was a safe pick for the team and instantly adds a little confidence to the Colts LB room. He will still need to improve some things before he can become an above-average LB in the league.

Rating

•Game IQ / Play Recognition – 8.1/10

•Tackling / Physicality – 8.0/10

•Angles / Pursuit – 8.3/10

•Run Defense / Block Shedding – 8.1/10

•Coverage Ability – 8.4/10

•Athleticism / Frame / Range – 6.0/10

•Pass Rush / Blitz Ability – 6.7/10

Total = 79.1/100 Early 3rd or Late 2nd Round

Combine Testing

Height

6'1"

Weight

233lbs

25thBelow Average

40-Yard Dash

4.69s

49thBelow Average

Vertical

34.5in

53thAbove Average

Bench

21reps

36thBelow Average

Broad Jump

118in

52thAbove Average

Three-Cone

7.25s

30thBelow Average

Shuttle

4.30s

51thAbove Average

DPH Proprietary Scores

Frame Score

Measures a prospect's physical build and size relative to historical NFL positional standards.

DPH Athlete

Diamond Prospects' proprietary athletic score that evaluates a player's overall athletic profile using combine testing and positional percentiles.

Total Score

The combined athletic evaluation generated from Frame Score and DPH Athlete Score.

Combine Year: 2026 • Data from DPH Combine Database

Andrés Griñe

Founder of DiamondProspects and Head NFL Scout View Full Bio

I am an Assistant in Player Personnel/Scouting for Washington State Football with over six years of experience scouting NFL prospects and evaluating talent. I previously covered high school baseball as a writer for NMPreps and now run DiamondProspects, where I publish scouting reports, prospect evaluations, and draft analysis. I am currently a junior pursuing a degree in Sports Management and am originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico.

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