3 things Colts must avoid doing in this year’s NFL Draft

The 2022 NFL Draft is a month away and the Indianapolis Colts must make sure they don’t make these common mistakes.

The Indianapolis Colts are preparing for the 2022 NFL Draft and they are set up pretty well to address the team’s needs and field a quality team next season.

Indy is entering the draft without a first-round pick but it does have seven total picks over the last two days of draft weekend. With Chris Ballard’s history of trading around, the Colts are likely to gather up more picks with draft-day trades.

Indianapolis is in a great position to address its needs. The team was able to figure out the quarterback position and edge-rushing problem by making big trades for Matt Ryan and Yannick Ngakoue.

The game plan for the Colts should be simple. They know the primary positions to address are receiver, left tackle, corner, and tight end.

Indy’s need at receiver is obvious and this is the draft class to address it. There are also several corners and left tackles in the draft that should be available for Indy through the early rounds and Indy has already been getting familiar with tight ends.

Even with an obvious game plan, it’s still easy to make common draft mistakes. Indy must do its best to not fall into those traps. Here are 3 things the Colts must avoid doing in this year’s draft.

Colts shouldn’t reach on guys due to need

A mistake teams make every year is drafting a player because he fills their need at a position and not because they like the player on the field. That’s something Indy shouldn’t do this year.

The biggest example of that is with quarterbacks, and it’s something that has been said a lot in this draft season. Not many of the quarterbacks in this class grade out pretty well but teams may still use high picks on them just because they need a quarterback.

If a team isn’t in love with a prospect, they shouldn’t select the player. Typically, in the NBA Draft, teams will just select the best player available. In the NFL, franchises usually prioritize needs, then draft the best available.

That has led to a lot of disastrous situations and wasted draft picks. The Colts should take more of the NBA approach if they encounter a situation like this.

For example, let’s say Indy selects a receiver it is high on in the second round. When Indianapolis is back on the clock in the third round, the natural move would be to address another need like left tackle.

If the Colts aren’t really impressed with any of the left tackles available, they shouldn’t draft one just because it’s something they need.

They would be better off double-dipping at receiver if there are still extremely talented guys left on the board. That’s something Indy has to be conscious of as it makes picks in the earlier rounds.

It’s better to reach on prospects during day three, once the draft has reached the later rounds and teams are choosing between guys that they may not be entirely sold on anyway.

Colts shouldn’t draft athleticism over production

The evaluation period leading up to the NFL Draft is a time where many often obsess over certain measurements and tests that don’t ultimately mean anything for many players.

Every year, analysts, fans, and teams begin dissecting players’ hand size and 40 times and verticals and all these things that don’t directly translate to how good of a football player they are.

Yes, every team wants athletic players that can excel at everything, but at the end of the day, the NFL is about playing football. The numbers that are posted in the spring don’t always correlate with what a player can do in the fall.

Even though that has been proven countless times, teams still allow prospects’ pre-draft numbers to affect how they feel about them and where they will draft them.

That’s why a player like Notre Dame’s safety Kyle Hamilton, who demonstrated sideline-to-sideline speed in college, is sliding down draft boards after a 4.59 40-yard dash.

That’s the case for talented receiver David Bell as well. Bell dominated the collegiate game since he stepped foot on Purdue’s campus, leaving as a Biletnikoff finalist. However, his stock has taken a hit after he ran a 4.65 40-yard dash.

If the Colts have the opportunity to select one of these guys with elite college tape, they should draft them instead of gambling on a guy that wasn’t as impressive on the field but moves well in spandex.

At the end of the day, the Draft is a gamble, and there are a lot of factors that go into having a successful career. A guy that was great in college could be mediocre at best in the NFL and a player with an average college career that is extremely athletic could end up having a Hall of Fame career.

However, since it’s all a gamble, it makes more sense to bet on the player that has a proven history of excelling at football.

Colts shouldn’t rely on Draft for things that can already be addressed

It’s easy for teams to adopt a mindset that they can just wait until the draft to address things but that can be somewhat limiting. It’s smarter for teams to address as much as they can through free agency and trading before the draft arrives.

By doing that, teams get to get the most out of their draft approach. They won’t be forced into making any bad selections, they could trade with teams to acquire even more picks, and ultimately, they are essentially playing with house money.

When a team enters the draft with very few needs they can begin to build depth and start selecting the best player available.

Unfortunately for the Colts, it seems as if they are content with waiting for the draft to address the remaining holes in the roster.

Indy has already made comments about their left tackle, wide receiver, and tight end positions that have made it clear that those are things that will be prioritized in the draft. They should be.

However, by not aggressively pursuing veteran options in free agency or the trade market, the Colts will limit what they will be able to do with their picks.

For example, Chris Ballard has said that Indianapolis is giving Matt
Pryor the first shot at left tackle. It’s unclear how much Indy really believes in Pryor’s ability but many expect the Colts to go after a tackle with one of their first few picks.

If Indianapolis signed Pro Bowl left tackle, Duane Brown, it would feel less pressure to take a tackle early, allowing Indy to build up other places.

The more things the Colts put off until the Draft the more they have to hit on all seven picks, which is really hard to do. Passing things up in free agency to address them in the draft usually results in a team entering the season with a few needs that they ended the last year with.

Indianapolis has a month to continue adding to its roster and set itself up to enter the Draft with as much freedom as possible. That will allow the Colts to have the best draft they can.

Chris Ballard and Colts have poor track record drafting receivers

The Indianapolis Colts have had bad luck when drafting receivers but they hope to change that in this upcoming NFL Draft.