The Indianapolis Colts are less than a month away from the 2023 NFL draft, and the mock drafts are being conducted at an extremely high rate.
With the NFL combine behind us, the college pro days are wrapping up. Prospect visits and workouts will be taking place in April as well. We have a relatively strong idea of what the Colts are going to want to do in the draft.
There certainly are questions pertaining to which prospects they prefer and whether they want to move up in the draft order. But we may not know the answer to those questions until draft night itself comes around.
The Colts have made some big moves in free agency thus far between signings, cuts and trades. Keep up to date with the latest news, signings and rumors through our free agency tracker for the Colts.
You also can take a look at our earlier mock draft roundups from the offseason:
- Mock draft roundup 1.0 (Jan. 11)
- Mock draft roundup 2.0 (Jan. 23)
- Mock draft roundup 3.0 (Feb. 11)
- Mock draft roundup 4.0 (March 7)
- Mock draft roundup 5.0 (March 20)
Here’s our sixth mock draft roundup of the 2023 offseason:
NFL Wire
The Pick: QB Anthony Richardson, Florida
Mock Draft Date: March 24
Author: Kevin Hickey
Link to Mock Draft
Author’s Take: “Trade details:
- Cardinals receive: Nos. 4, 79, C Ryan Kelly
- Colts receive: No. 3
In the first edition of this mock draft (pre-free agency), we had the Colts staying put at No. 4. That’s ultimately what they likely will do, but I wanted to see what it felt like to trade up one spot to secure a quarterback after both C.J. Stroud and Bryce Young were selected. Keeping the second-round pick (No. 35) is imperative and could be a deal-breaker for both sides, but the addition of Kelly in the trade may give the Cardinals an extra bump.
The pick essentially comes down to Richardson and Kentucky’s Will Levis. Both players check several boxes for the Colts while presenting challenges in development. However, we’re swinging for upside here. Richardson’s fit in Shane Steichen’s offense could eventually be what we saw with Jalen Hurts in 2022 and some. Considering Richardson’s elite arm strength, he has the upside to be a dominant dual-threat option at quarterback. His rushing ability gives him a floor to work with in an RPO-based scheme and could already give a Justin Fields level of production from the jump. Learning to be more consistent with his lower-body mechanics and adjusting velocity on touch throws are major keys in his development. The Colts need a new franchise quarterback, and Richardson has the highest upside in this class to become elite.”
Pro Football Focus
The Pick: CB Christian Gonzalez, Oregon
Mock Draft Date: March 26
Author: Brad Spielberger
Link to Mock Draft
Author’s Take: “Gonzalez was built in a lab to be an NFL cornerback, with a sturdy 6-foot-1, 197-pound frame, 32-inch arms and freakish athleticism. Gonzalez’s 4.38-second 40-yard dash places in the 89th percentile among cornerbacks in PFF’s database, his 41.5-inch vertical ranks in the 97th percentile and his 11-foot-1 broad jump is in the 96th percentile.
Explosive, straight-line-speed athletes sometimes struggle with agility and fluidity, but if you looked up “oily hips” in the football cliché dictionary, you’d see a picture of Gonzalez.
We saw cornerbacks get drafted at No. 3 and No. 4 overall last year, and with the Colts boasting a fairly loaded defensive line, they instead land their replacement for All-Pro cornerback Stephon Gilmore, whom they recently traded away to the Dallas Cowboys.”
The Draft Network
The Pick: QB Will Levis, Kentucky
Mock Draft Date: March 29
Author: Keith Sanchez
Link to Mock Draft
Author’s Take: “The Colts have their option of the two toolsy quarterbacks in Will Levis and Anthony Richardson. The Colts opt to go with Levis here. The intrigue of Levis’ tools plus his experience playing in an NFL offense will give him a slight edge over Anthony Richardson. New head coach Shane Steichen has proven to develop dual-threat quarterbacks in his time at Philadelphia too.”
ESPN
The Pick: QB Will Levis, Kentucky
Mock Draft Date: March 28
Author: Mike Tannenbaum
Link to Mock Draft
Author’s Take: “The Colts are starved for stability at quarterback. Since losing Andrew Luck to an unexpected early retirement, they have failed to find a long-term option, trying Jacoby Brissett, Philip Rivers, Carson Wentz and Matt Ryan over four seasons. They will be looking to the draft for their next signal-caller, though, and I’m giving them Levis.
Although we saw inconsistency last season at Kentucky, Levis’ physical traits and upside remind me of Ben Roethlisberger when he came out of Miami (Ohio) in 2004. He threw 19 touchdown passes last season playing in a pro-ready scheme.”
CBS Sports
The Pick: QB Lamar Jackson (trade with Ravens)
Mock Draft Date: March 28
Author: Will Brinson
Link to Mock Draft
Author’s Take: “A team that makes a ton of sense for said sign-and-trade is the Indianapolis Colts. Indy holds the fourth pick in the draft and could be boxed out for the immediate impact quarterbacks. Lamar would quickly solve that problem and if there’s a team possibly interested in Jackson — and for an interesting number of reasons there haven’t been a ton — Indy fits the bill pretty perfectly.
In this instance, the Colts could work with Lamar to find out what kind of deal he wants, have him sign his tag with the Ravens and then trade for Lamar and give him the contract he’s interested in. With Lamar having no agent, it’s a little trickier to pull off and requires plenty of trust between three parties.
Baltimore would obviously prefer two first-round picks, but a sign-and-trade might make sense here with Indy giving up the fourth overall pick, quite the valuable commodity. Instead of the offer sheet plus picks, the sign-and-trade would allow Indy to give back something like a conditional second-round pick next year, which turns into a first-round pick if Lamar plays X number of games or the Colts make the playoffs, etc.
Colts owner Jim Irsay even said Monday he doesn’t see money as a problem, but lamented the draft-pick compensation for potentially acquiring Lamar. So there’s a pathway forward for this potentially happening. Let’s see what would happen if the Ravens and Colts actually struck a deal for Lamar (for ease of use, we’ll just make it the standard offer sheet).”
NFL.com
The Pick: QB Anthony Richardson, Florida
Mock Draft Date: March 27
Author: Eric Edholm
Link to Mock Draft
Author’s Take: “PROJECTED TRADE WITH ARIZONA CARDINALS
The Colts could move up one spot to prevent another team from jumping ahead of them to pick Richardson.”
Pro Football Focus
The Pick: QB Will Levis, Kentucky
Mock Draft Date: March 29
Author: Gordon McGuinness
Link to Mock Draft
Author’s Take: “Round 1: QB Will Levis, Kentucky
Round 2: G Steve Avila, TCU
Round 3: WR Rashee Rice, SMU
If reports of Levis sliding are accurate, perhaps this wouldn’t be the pick. The Colts need a franchise quarterback, and Levis’ 2021 season saw him produce a 90.6 PFF grade, albeit despite generating just 15 big-time throws that season.
Rice was incredibly productive at SMU a year ago, averaging 3.05 yards per route run, which was tied for eighth among all receivers to see 70-plus targets in college football.”
Pro Football Network
The Pick: QB Anthony Richardson, Florida
Mock Draft Date: March 28
Author: Joe Broback
Link to Mock Draft
Author’s Take: “Anthony Richardson has all of the tools to be the best quarterback in this class. At his peak, he’s better than everyone else. He just needs to be more consistent. The ceiling is enticing, and the Indianapolis Colts could be sold if he drops to them here.
With a cannon for an arm, Richardson, at a minimum, sells more tickets and grows interest early on while he develops. With the Colts cutting Matt Ryan, it’s obvious that the offense will be handed over to a younger player. If that guy is Richardson, there will be plenty to be excited about in Lucas Oil Stadium.”
NFL.com
The Pick: EDGE Tyree Wilson, Texas Tech
Mock Draft Date: March 28
Author: Bucky Brooks
Link to Mock Draft
Author’s Take: “Adding a quarterback is a top priority, given that free-agent signing Gardner Minshew currently sits first on Indianapolis’ depth chart — but the grades on the available QB1 prospects do not match the Colts’ draft position. Wilson would give the team a young, energetic pass rusher to pair with Kwity Paye on the edges.”
The Athletic
The Pick: QB Bryce Young, Alabama
Mock Draft Date: March 28
Author: Diante Lee and Nate Tice
Link to Mock Draft
Author’s Take: “I wonder if the fans in Indianapolis would feel squeamish about going all in on a player of Young’s size to be their franchise QB, but his tape is worthy of a top-five pick. In his career at Alabama, Young checked all the boxes of a pro-ready passer. He evades pressure without bailing out of the pocket, keeps his eyes downfield and will take a chance on a tight-window throw if that’s the best decision within the progression.
Young is willing to stay in the pocket (almost to a fault), and he only threw 12 interceptions in his 949 collegiate passing attempts, which speaks to his processing skills as Alabama put the entire offense on his shoulders. I worry about the kind of punishment Young will take behind the Colts’ offensive line, and he will have to master his timing on throws over the middle of the field. It’s an appealing prospect to marry him with Shane Steichen, who demonstrated how to build an offense around his quarterback’s skills. It should allow Young to open up Steichen’s playbook even more as a drop-back passer.”
