Indianapolis, IN — The Indianapolis Colts used their final pick of the 2025 NFL Draft on safety Hunter Wohler, a versatile defensive back out of Wisconsin.
Despite waiting until the final round to bring him on board, using their last draft selection on Wohler shows legitimate interest rather than blindly throwing their final dart, given they weren’t willing to risk him hitting the open market as an undrafted free agent.
This is the eighth and final installment of an article series that’s covered each Colts rookie from the 2025-26 season.
Expectations — Wohler’s draft card considered him a linebacker, unofficially revealing Indy’s plans for him. The Colts were to primarily use Wohler as a box safety — a hybrid safety/linebacker role. At 6’2”, 213 lbs, it certainly makes sense.
Of course, late-day 3 draft selections hardly warrant any expectations given the typical draft-and-stash nature of such picks, though specialists (especially placekickers and punters) can find themselves worthy of gameday expectations as rookies.
Rookie Season — Special teams is naturally where Wohler was slated to contribute, though training camp suggested a bigger role (on defense) was on the horizon. During camp, Wohler was getting regular run at safety (primarily in the box, but plenty of reps back deep as well) and proved to be one of the most physical players on that side of the ball.
His noisy training camp culminated in a joint practice against the Baltimore Ravens, where he intercepted the two-time MVP Lamar Jackson twice. Unfortunately, Wohler’s hot start was soon extinguished as a foot (Lisfranc) injury during a preseason game versus the Green Bay Packers, effectively ending his rookie season before it ever began.
Future Outlook — Hunter Wohler was never meant to be his successor, but if Nick Cross leaves in free agency, he is slated to start at strong safety overnight. The NFL Draft and free agency will more than likely add competition to the hypothetical void in question, but as it stands, Wohler is the direct backup who is ready to prove himself all over again.
“I feel like I put myself in a decent spot for next year, but it’s not what about you did yesterday or in camp, you know, I haven’t proven anything on the field yet,” Wohler said via Amanda Foster of the Colts site.
“So it’s come OTAs, come camp, I’ll have to reprove myself all over again and put myself in a spot to hopefully be on the field next year…I think the minute you stop playing with a chip is the minute you kind of fall behind. So I’ve always played with a chip, and I think this season it’ll just be not necessarily more of a chip, but with all the downtime and not playing, I think you realize things about yourself and where you’re at and all that. So there’ll be a little extra juice coming in this year, I’m sure.”
Regardless of whether or not he’s being penciled in as the Colts’ next starting safety, Hunter Wohler is determined to prove that his rookie season training camp was not a fluke, but rather a sign of what’s to come.
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