NFL Draft experts predicting bad news for Colts
The Indianapolis Colts are finally about to make their first-round selection in the 2023 NFL Draft. General manager Chris Ballard and first-year head coach Shane Steichen are eying their franchise quarterback. But, the Colts are not the only team looking to upgrade at signal caller. As many as four quarterbacks could be drafted inside the […]
The Indianapolis Colts are finally about to make their first-round selection in the 2023 NFL Draft. General manager Chris Ballard and first-year head coach Shane Steichen are eying their franchise quarterback.
But, the Colts are not the only team looking to upgrade at signal caller. As many as four quarterbacks could be drafted inside the top-10. There's a real chance that five passes are selected in the opening round.
With that in mind, there could be some trade movement in the draft order that would potentially impact Indianapolis. In fact, ESPN NFL Draft experts Mel Kiper and Todd McShay are predicting Indianapolis to be jumped for a signal caller.
Both Kiper and McShay released their final mock drafts on Thursday. In each of the predictions, the two experts see the Tennessee Titans trading up to the No. 3 pick for a quarterback.
The Titans likely know that they have to get in front of the Colts if they want their guy at quarterback. While there is some unknown about what the Houston Texans will do, it's not a secret that Indianapolis is looking to secure their franchise passer.
"If Houston, as we projected here, does not take a quarterback, I expect Tennessee to get aggressive in exploring a trade up," McShay wrote. "The Titans can jump a handful of QB-needy teams, while the Cardinals can slide back into a more favorable range for some of the prospects they might be targeting."
In both instances, the Titans move up for Ohio State quarterback CJ Stroud. Stroud's stock seems to be all over the place leading up to the draft, but he's widely considered to be a safe option behind center.
Which would leave Indianapolis with Will Levis or Anthony Richardson. Both Kiper and McShay lean Indianapolis drafting Levis. It has been reported that Levis has fans inside the Colts' building, so it makes sense.
"The Colts have an offensive core to help Levis succeed," Kiper wrote. "He's going to make some mistakes, but he has experience playing in a pro-style offense and is ahead of the curve in going through progressions and reading defenses."
There seems to be some real smoke that the Indianapolis Colts could be jumped in the draft order when the selections begin to be made. That would obviously not be the best-case scenario for Indianapolis.
