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Colts 7-round 2023 NFL mock draft 1.0: Building an offense

By Justin Bauerle

ATHENS, GA - NOVEMBER 05: Hendon Hooker #5 of the Tennessee Volunteers warms up prior to the game against the Georgia Bulldogs at Sanford Stadium on November 5, 2022 in Athens, Georgia. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)
ATHENS, GA - NOVEMBER 05: Hendon Hooker #5 of the Tennessee Volunteers warms up prior to the game against the Georgia Bulldogs at Sanford Stadium on November 5, 2022 in Athens, Georgia. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images) /
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NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – DECEMBER 31: Bryce Young #9 of the Alabama Crimson Tide looks to pass during the second quarter of the Allstate Sugar Bowl against the Kansas State Wildcats at Caesars Superdome on December 31, 2022 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – DECEMBER 31: Bryce Young #9 of the Alabama Crimson Tide looks to pass during the second quarter of the Allstate Sugar Bowl against the Kansas State Wildcats at Caesars Superdome on December 31, 2022 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images) /

. Pick Analysis. 4. QB. Alabama. BryceYoung. player. 46

Colts draft QB Bryce Young in the first round (4th overall)

At the top of my draft, the Chicago Bears and Arizona Cardinals stayed put and took defensive players, while the Houston Texans drafted Will Levis over Bryce Young. This was an almost no-brainer decision to draft Bryce Young with pick No. 4 in the draft.

In recent rankings, Young sat as the second-best quarterback for the Colts to draft, behind C.J. Stroud, and with Stroud still on the board, I took Young anyways.

Stroud is very much a project piece for the Colts as he hasn’t learned to plant his feet and deliver a great throw. If he is able to do that, then it would really improve his game. With Bryce, you are getting a day-one starter in the NFL.

Bryce has poise and can deliver the perfect ball. If he’s able to get the time in the pocket, he is going to hurt a lot of defenses. The worry with Young is that he is on the smaller side, standing at just six feet tall and 194 pounds. Jim Irsay has never drafted a quarterback of that size in his time as the Colts owner or general manager. So this would be a change for him.

The important thing for Indianapolis would be putting Young behind a great offensive line. We saw how Indy’s quarterbacks struggled to stay healthy behind last season’s offensive line, and they were much bigger than Bryce Young. It’s essentially malpractice to put a quarterback behind a line as bad as Indy’s was, especially a QB that is Young’s size.

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