The Indianapolis Colts are undoubtedly excited for the potential of every selection they made in the 2019 NFL Draft, but there appears to be some extra buzz surrounding linebacker Bobby Okereke.

Selected in the third round of the draft out of Stanford, Okereke embodies exactly what the Colts are looking for in a running mate for Darius Leonard, who earned All-Pro honors and won the 2018 Defensive Rookie of the Year award. Okereke is already drawing comparisons to Leonard simply given the similarities in athleticism and length.

Fresh out of rookie minicamp, Okereke was pegged as a player to watch for the Colt by Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated.

The coaches are already excited about his potential coming out of minicamp. And the team viewed it as a priority to find an athlete to pair with Darius Leonard at the position, which is why C.J. Mosley was one of two first-wave free agents that GM Chris Ballard made a serious run at. Okereke can’t be expected to duplicate Leonard’s rookie accomplishments—he was First Team All-Pro in 2018—but the Colts saw a lot of same the things in him that attracted them to Leonard last April, including instincts, intelligence and long arms. Indy had Okereke on a tier with Utah’s Cody Barton, behind top-10 picks Devin White and Devin Bush. And while Okereke (4.59 in the 40) isn’t as freakish athletically as White or Bush, he is bigger and longer than them. Which, in fact, was what Leonard had over top-10 pick Roquan Smith last year. So keep an eye on Okereke.

The Colts linebacker corps is one that is expected to be under heavy competition throughout the offseason program, training camp and the preseason games. With three new additions out of the draft, the room could look very different in the span of just one offseason.

Okereke is likely to be competing with Anthony Walker for the MIKE backer position. With Darius Leonard working at WILL and second-round pick Ben Banogu projected to start at SAM, the competition between Okereke and Walker will be a fun battle to watch.

None of it will really matter until the pads come on during training camp, but Okereke should find himself entrenched in the middle of a heated competition as the 2019 season approaches.