Source: Colts top two draft choices go head to head Sunday

This week's matchup between the Indianapolis Colts and Houston Texans will be the first regular season meeting between Anthony Richardson and CJ Stroud since their respective teams elected to draft both in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft.  While Stroud and Richardson were the 2nd and 3rd drafted QBs in this year's class, […]

Destin Adams — NFL News Writer
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This week's matchup between the Indianapolis Colts and Houston Texans will be the first regular season meeting between Anthony Richardson and CJ Stroud since their respective teams elected to draft both in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft. 

While Stroud and Richardson were the 2nd and 3rd drafted QBs in this year's class, a team source has shared with me that they were the top two on the Colts list. Ahead of this matchup, I decided to share all I know about the Colts evaluations of both and how they both landed with the Texans and Colts. 

The Colts QB Draft Evaluations:

The Colts spent extensive time evaluating the 2023 QB class. Turning over every stone they could find ahead of arguably the most important draft pick in the franchise's history. After months of discussions and debates, I was told that the team came to the following rankings of the QBs in this past year's class.

  1. Anthony Richardson 
  2. CJ Stroud
  3. Bryce Young
  4. Will Levis

Rumors heading into the draft: 

After the team came to this conclusion, I've been told that they were extra motivated to land one of Richardson and Stroud. To make sure they landed one of the two, the team discussed a framework of a trade with the Arizona Cardinals to swap the 3rd and 4th pick in the draft, but a trade wouldn't be finalized till draft day, so both could see how the board fell. 

While both teams wanted to wait and see, there was heavy belief around the league of how the first two picks were going to go. After the Carolina Panthers initially traded for the number one overall pick from the Chicago Bears, it was believed to be for Ohio State's CJ Stroud, which would set up the Houston Texans to select their top QB, Alabama's Bryce Young. Things took a drastic change after a couple of weeks of the Panthers owning the top pick, as word started to get spread around the league that they would be taking Bryce Young with the 1st pick. 

This development caused everyone in the league to wonder what the Texans would do. There was plenty of speculation around who the pick at two would be, but about a week prior to draft day, teams around the league began to believe the Texans would select Alabama's edge rusher, Will Anderson.

Draft Day: 

When the NFL draft finally arrived, the word around the league remained the same that Bryce Young would go first, followed by Will Anderson, which would then allow the Cardinals to either trade back with the Colts or a mystery team who had begun attempting to land the third pick. Since the draft, we have learned the identity of that team was the Tennessee Titans. 

Just hours prior to the Draft beginning, things took a turn around the league as rumors started to swirl that the Texans may be pivoting after what I've been told "pressure from high in the organization" was being sent down to GM Nick Caserio to draft the franchise's next QB with the 2nd pick. This would be changing the teams plan from Will Anderson (their top draft prospect) at two and likely a QB (rumored to be Kentucky's Will Levis) with their 2nd first-round pick at 12. 

This led to the Texans doing everything in their power to trade up for the 3rd overall pick as well so they could land their top target in Anderson and land their QB earlier than pick 12. When the Texans learned that the Titans were the other serious team in discussions for the third pick, they drafted CJ Stroud at pick two, who has been shared with me by a source close to the situation, was also the Titans target. 

Colts elect not to trade up to 3: 

The Colts and many other teams were shocked by the Texans selection of Stroud. One source shared, "Them taking a QB at two was already a shock because of the information we had going into draft day, but it being Stroud was also shocking." Many around the league truly thought Will Levis was Houston's QB 2 after Young. After Stroud went at two, the Colts considered pulling the trigger on a deal with the Cardinals, but they chose to hold off after learning the Texans were extra motivated to land the pick themselves. The Colts gamble worked out as Houston landed the third pick, and the Colts drafted their top QB without moving any extra draft assets in the process.

Present Day:  

This crazy roller coaster ride now leads us to Week 2, where Anthony Richardson and CJ Stroud will go head-to-head for their first of many matchups in the foreseeable future. Both QBs were named their teams Week 1 starters. And I've been told that both franchises are in great spirits about the current return on investments they have seen with their rookie QBs. 

It will be exciting to see both teams and QBs develop in the coming years and see this healthy rivalry develop into great football for their teams and their fans to enjoy.  

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