Colts Draft Prospect: Cornerback Morris Claiborne

Let’s say that the unthinkable happens and the Indianapolis Colts trade the first pick in the 2012 NFL Draft.   In that case, it’s obvious that they won’t pick Andrew Luck in the first round, so who might they target instead.   Depending on where that trade would land them within the context of the draft pecking order, the Colts could take any number of top prospects, because they have needs almost everywhere.

One enticing option would be LSU cornerback Morris Claiborne.  At 6’0″ and 185 pounds, Claiborne has developed into one of the top pass defenders in the nation over the past two seasons, and he could definitely help the Colts plug their porous secondary.  Even if the Colts took him and decided he wasn’t quite ready for prime time, he could help beef up Indianpolis’ anemic kick return game, as he averaged about 29 yards per return in college.

When you are as bad as the Colts, you have a lot of options for improvement, and Claiborne could fit the bill in a couple of ways.