The Indianapolis Colts will be using the next two months to figure out whether they want to trade up or stay put in the first round of the 2023 NFL draft.
Currently sitting at the No. 4 overall pick, the Colts are in a prime position to draft one of the top four quarterback prospects without having to move at all. However, there’s a good chance they come out of the process favoring one quarterback above the rest.
Buy Colts TicketsIf that does wind up being the case, Daniel Jeremiah of NFL Network advised they move up to the No. 1 spot to ensure they get the prospect they want.
“Yeah, I think if you have the conviction, I think if you are the Colts right now, they’ve been on this veteran carousel, as you know, for so long. They’ve got to get off of it,” Jeremiah said in a conference call this week. “So if you have conviction of who that guy is, I think where their position is as an organization I think it makes sense for them to be maybe more aggressive than Houston would be. If you have that conviction just go up [in] there and get him.”
Who that prospect will be remains to be seen. The Colts will get more information about these prospects during the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis next week, which includes the uber-important in-person interviews.
That will give them a chance to have a face-to-face discussion with each of these prospects. For Chris Ballard and new head coach Shane Steichen, those interviews may be more important than the on-field testing.
As for Jeremiah, he said he wouldn’t feel comfortable sitting back at No. 4 and letting the chips fall where they may.
“There’s a lot that can happen. You know, you might have one that you love,
one that you really like, and then it drops off. Nobody knows what order that’s in, but I would not be comfortable — I would not be sleeping well at night if I was just going to sit and hold tight there at No. 4,” Jeremiah said of the Colts.
There are four worthy quarterback prospects to consider—all of which come with their own upside and baggage of question marks.
The consensus seems to be that Alabama’s Bryce Young is the top quarterback entering the combine while Ohio State’s C.J . Stroud and Kentucky’s Will Levis have been interchangeable for the second and third spots, followed by Florida’s Anthony Richardson.
However, Jeremiah also said in the conference call that Richardson is the “second quarterback for several teams” given his unique upside.
We may not know for sure who the Colts like the most until draft night, and we may be waiting for a while if a trade is in the works.
But the combine will certainly play a role in whether the Colts feel strongly about moving up in the draft order.
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