INDIANAPOLIS – Rueben Bain Jr. and Cashius Howell, two of the most highly-touted edge rushers in last month’s NFL Draft, made headlines for the wrong reasons during February’s NFL Combine for their historically-short arms; measuring fractions above or below 30.5 inches.
Colts sixth-round pick Caden Curry’s arms measured even shorter.
“I don’t really like talking about that,” said the hometown hero who won two state titles at Center Grove and led Ohio State in sacks in 2025, notably tightening up after an exuberant start to his first in-person press conference with local media Friday.
Curry spent his college career overcoming immense odds, having knowingly joined a deep Buckeye defensive unit as a freshman in 2022. The Greenwood native wouldn’t log a single start until his senior season last fall, when he burst onto the scene as an undersized game-wrecker on a defense that had three players selected in the top-11 of the NFL Draft.
Until then, he’d played behind 2025 Colts second-round pick Jaylahn Tuimoloau. Once Curry finally saw the football field, his production soared with those same abnormally short arms.
He arrived Thursday at the Colts’ facility with that same mindset.
“I just want to go out there and be a football player. I am who I am, but I’m a football player. I’m not a guy just off a statistic,” Curry said. “It’s football, and you’ve got to go through that process if you want to play at this level. You’ve got to do the things they want you to do, and it’s not like I’m going to shy away from it or hide from it.
“But now, we’ve finally gotten to the time where we get to do what we want to do and what we came here to do, and I’m just happy to get to make the most of it.”
Curry said, too, he’s done his best to simmer down his boyhood excitement of being drafted by the team he’s rooted for all his life and whose jersey he dug out of the back of his childhood closet after receiving the call from Colts general manager Chris Ballard. As cherished as those indescribable moments may be, the young edge rusher said he’s adopted the same focused, go-to-work mentality he would’ve held had he been drafted by any of the other 31 teams in the league last month.
“It’s a surreal moment to get to play for your hometown team, but honestly, I’m just ready to get to work,” he said. “This is something I’d always dreamed of since I was a little kid, but I feel like I’m trying to take the mindset that this is a job – like it would’ve been anywhere.”
While he waited for his chance to start on defense his first three years at Ohio State, Curry made his mark as a standout special teamer – a similar track that various Colts in recent years have used to continue to develop and hang onto a roster spot before evolving into an every-game offensive or defensive starter.
If that’s what it takes at the next level, too, Curry said he’s more than ready for that same challenge.
“Whatever opportunities people are going to give you are ones you’ve got to make the most of,” he said. “Wherever they put me or wherever they want me, I’m going to try it. I just want to compete. I’m going to do the best that I can and be the best version of myself wherever they give me an opportunity.”
Joel A. Erickson and Nathan Brown cover the Colts all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Colts Insider newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Caden Curry has historically short arms. He didn’t let that stop him at Ohio State.
Reporting by Nathan Brown, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
