Football family helps fuel Abraham's journey to Colts
Apr. 27—INDIANAPOLIS — Football runs in Micah Abraham's family.
His father, Donnie, played nine seasons as a cornerback with the New York Jets and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And a cousin, Tim Jennings, played cornerback for 10 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts, Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay.
"Honestly, I have so many different football players in this family that I can get advice from and obviously different techniques," Abraham said Saturday after being selected in the sixth round out of Marshall by the Colts. "So obviously (they're) all my role models I go to ask questions. If it comes to technique problems, I ask them 'What should I do?' But I have a lot of people in my corner."
None more so than his father.
Donnie Abraham was a third-round pick by the Bucs in 1996 and played his first six NFL seasons under Hall of Fame head coach Tony Dungy. He's currently the defensive coordinator for the St. Louis Battlehawks after a long and successful career as a high-school head coach in Florida.
That's a lot of accumulated knowledge, and the younger Abraham appropriately leaned on his father throughout the draft process.
"His biggest thing was always just 'You're going to get an opportunity,'" Micah Abraham said. "'You made plays. You have the film for it. You're gonna get the opportunity. It's not about when, but it's just about what you do with it when you get it.'"
The opportunity will come with a young Indianapolis defensive secondary.
Second-year corners JuJu Brents and Jaylon Jones are expected to battle with third-year corner Dallis Flowers for the two starting jobs on the outside.
Kenny Moore II was re-signed in the slot, and the Colts added Auburn cornerback Jaylin Simpson in the fifth round.
At 5-foot-10 and 185 pounds, Abraham best projects as a nickel back, but he's not going to allow himself to be put into a box.
"I started at outside corner, but obviously I think I'm very versatile," he said. "My freshman year at Marshall, I started at safety because that's what they needed and it's what they asked of me. And I played a couple games at nickel, so anything the Colts need me to do, I feel like I can do that — whether that's being at nickel or being at outside."
Abraham's profile shares some similarities with former Colts cornerback Isaiah Rodgers.
Both are undersized for the position with good speed (Abraham ran a 4.43-second 40-yard dash at his Pro Day) and outstanding production.
In 62 games with the Thundering Herd, Abraham intercepted 12 passes and broke up 55.
It's a trait Colts general manager Chris Ballard said generally translates to the next level, and it's among the reasons Ballard was willing to draft a corner who otherwise does not meet his usual metrics.
Abraham understands his physical limitations and said it's driven him to work even harder in areas he can control.
"I'm someone who obviously they'll say is under sized, but I'm somebody who plays with a chip on his shoulder," Abraham said. "I'm someone who has to be good and excel in different areas because of that. So one of the things I can bring is obviously my speed, my game IQ and just my ball production."
