How the Colts can claim the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft

After a season of torment, it’s time to look forward to how the Indianapolis Colts can manage to get the top pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. 

A year ago, it would have been a wild thought to imagine a team heading into January with a 9-6 record pushing for the playoffs would be even close to the first overall pick the following year. But here the Indianapolis Colts are, in the top 10 of the draft boards for the 2023 NFL Draft.

The way Indy finishes up the season is going to really dictate what happens to the franchise next year, with a lot of different options on the line. Who will coach the team, be the general manager, and most importantly, be the next quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts?

Right now, the Colts are in a position to get one of the top quarterbacks in the draft, but they’d need to settle on QB3-5 on the draft board and hope that’s enough to entice a good coach to come to Indy. Even then, if Chris Ballard is the general manager, does he try to trade back or take a positional need like left tackle?

It’s a wild thought, but there is still room for the Colts to land the first overall pick in next year’s draft, which would put Indy in a position to select Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud and Alabama’s Bryce Young. The two quarterbacks are known as this year’s top quarterbacks in the draft.

Even so, this time two years ago, it was Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields labeled as the top two, and Fields fell to being the fourth quarterback off the board. Now, it looks like the two were truly the top two in the draft.

The Colts cannot rely on that happening this year. That’s not a normal thing to happen, so they need to take the shots they can at obtaining the first overall pick. How does that happen, though? There are some bad teams out there and Indianapolis is currently sitting at pick No. 9, but just three games back from the top pick. Here’s what needs to happen for Indianapolis to be the first team on the board.