Colts’ list of non-QB draft needs shouldn’t be overlooked

INDIANAPOLIS — Colts general manager Chris Ballard has tried to leave the impression that his team will approach the draft with a certain open-mindedness, determined to avoid making a pick based solely on the team’s most obvious need.

This year, that position would be quarterback, with the Colts widely expected to select one with the No. 4 overall pick in next week’s NFL draft (first round starts Thursday at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN, ABC and ESPN App). But the expectation is so great, the need so overwhelming, that even Ballard is struggling to pretend otherwise.

“If you don’t feel like you have one that can absolutely change the franchise in terms of leading you every year, I think you’re always gonna feel some pressure to get that player,” Ballard said. No Colts quarterback has made consecutive opening-day starts since Andrew Luck in 2015-16.

What Ballard is doing here is, in effect, acknowledging how he’s always operated. He’s always leaned heavily into the Colts’ obvious needs during the draft.

In 2018, after the Colts’ repeated offensive line failures resulted in Luck taking a beating, Ballard drafted linemen Quenton Nelson and Braden Smith in the first 37 selections. In 2021, with the team’s edge rush under intense scrutiny, the Colts’ first two selections were defensive ends (Kwity Paye and Dayo Odeyingbo). There are numerous other examples, including the decision to draft receiver Alec Pierce with the team’s top selection in 2022, immediately after moving on from veteran T.Y. Hilton.

Taking this history into account, it’s perhaps instructive to take a look at the Colts’ biggest non-quarterback needs in this draft. If the past several years have proven anything, it’s that the Colts’ draft selections will largely focus on predictable positions.

To that end, here’s a look at a few areas of need the Colts will undoubtedly consider in this draft.

Wide receiver

The Colts have consistently avoided splashy wide receiver acquisitions in free agency during Ballard’s tenure as top executive, which began in 2016. That continued this spring, when Buffalo Bills free agent Isaiah McKenzie — who has exceeded 30 receptions just once in his six seasons — became the team’s most notable wide receiver addition of this offseason.

So, the Colts are going to have to continue tapping into the draft to stockpile talent at this position. And from the looks of it, they could use a little more.

Just three Colts — Michael Pittman Jr., Pierce and McKenzie — have surpassed 35 receptions in a single season. Given the likelihood that the Colts are going to be drafting a quarterback, it can be argued that they owe it to that player to create more competition at this vital position.

Head coach Shane Steichen has been on the other side of this. He saw firsthand the impact the Philadelphia Eagles’ talented stable of receivers had on quarterback Jalen Hurts. Steichen, who was the Eagles’ offensive coordinator the past two seasons, dialed up an offensive scheme that saw A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith combine for a staggering 183 receptions.

Can Steichen duplicate that in Indianapolis without adding more firepower at the position?

Cornerback

The Colts’ recent trade of Stephon Gilmore to the Dallas Cowboys for a fifth-round pick isn’t the primary reason cornerback is a priority need in this draft. But that move certainly created a higher level of urgency at the position.

The loss of Gilmore, who was the Colts’ most consistent cornerback in 2022, is compounded by the reality that both 2021 Pro Bowl selection Kenny Moore II and burgeoning starter Isaiah Rodgers Sr. are entering the final seasons of their contracts. The Colts have high hopes for under-the-radar players like 2022 undrafted free agent Dallis Flowers, but there’s no getting around this inconvenient fact: Indianapolis hasn’t drafted a cornerback in the first five rounds since Rock Ya-Sin in 2019 (34^th overall). The current draft class should afford the Colts some opportunities to select the kinds of prospects they prefer.

“That’s a spot you watch for because it’s such a need in the NFL,” defensive coordinator Gus Bradley said. “Finding a good one, it can really elevate your team.”

Bradley added that his preference is cornerbacks with length that allows them to excel in press coverage, but who also have the sort of change-of-direction ability and quickness more commonly seen in smaller players.

“This group, you see some guys like that,” he said. “There are guys that stand out that have that ability. So, it appears to be a pretty good group.”

Offensive line

There’s likely to be just one job up for grabs on the offensive line entering the season — right guard. But the Colts also need to create competition (or at least find a solid backup) for Bernhard Raimann at left tackle following his up-and-down rookie season, while also creating overall depth in a unit where they aim to have nine viable players.

The Colts have cut some corners on the offensive line in the past year-plus, and those mistakes haunted them last season. The dropoff after right tackle Smith, left guard Nelson and center Ryan Kelly was too much to overcome.

“I thought with the three really good players we had coming back … that we would absorb those other positions and they would come up to speed right away,” Ballard said earlier this year. “It just didn’t occur that way. That’s a mistake.”

When it comes to the overall depth on the line, that has sometimes been addressed by Ballard in free agency. But the Colts have made no offensive line acquisitions since last season, so look for prospects to be potential targets throughout this draft.

Linebacker

Two variables make this position one to watch in this draft.

First, there’s the status of All-Pro linebacker Shaquille Leonard, who said this week that he is still rehabbing after his November back surgery that ended his 2022 season after just three games. It was Leonard’s second surgery since last summer.

There also is the loss of emerging star Bobby Okereke to the New York Giants in free agency. Okereke had a career-best 151 tackles last season and his departure will press E.J. Speed into a full-time starting role, thus eroding the depth behind the starters.

The Colts have a long track record of finding talented prospects at this position without utilizing premium picks. Anthony Walker Jr., who went on to start 48 games in four seasons for the Colts, was a fifth-round choice in 2017. Zaire Franklin, who had a breakout season in 2022, was a seventh-round pick in 2018. Speed was a fifth-round selection in 2019.

Perhaps the Colts can find their next linebacker gem in the 2023 draft.