With the preseason about to kick off and Indianapolis Colts fans anxious to finally see this newest iteration of the team play out, there's a lot of focus on training camp. However, let's look at this Colts football team from a wider perspective than just their upcoming first preseason bout against the Ravens.
Depending on how this season shakes out, how will Chris Ballard and company go about the draft next year?
Obviously, this mock draft is way too early, and come next year, some of the picks may be way off. In fact, we don't even know where the Colts will be picking in each round, let alone which prospects will rise and fall.
Indianapolis Colts find their next quarterback in too-early 2026 mock draft
However, for the purpose of this exercise, this mock draft was created to be three rounds using PFN's simulator, which had the Colts picking at number seven in the first round. Additionally, there will be no trades in this mock. Without further ado, let's get into the picks!
Round 1: LaNorris Sellers, QB, South Carolina
Picking this early in the first round would essentially mean that Anthony Richardson does not have what it takes to be the franchise quarterback for the Colts. The implications of the Colts owning the seventh pick in the draft mean that either he wasn’t performing well enough to win meaningful games, or he was once again injured for a large portion of the year.
Either scenario is unacceptable because another season-ending injury would officially land AR15 an injury-prone label. As they say, the best ability is availability.
Obviously, Colts fans do not want to have to pick a quarterback, as there is still a lot of hope for Anthony Richardson. However, if that is the route they end up having to take, LaNorris Sellers is an excellent option.
The South Carolina Gamecocks quarterback has exactly what Anthony Richardson didn’t have when he entered the draft: experience. Sellers played three years of varsity football (although his junior year was cut short to just one game), and in his senior year, he brought his team to the 4A State Championship.
In college, he was buried beneath Spencer Rattler on the depth chart, but in his first year starting, the sophomore exploded onto the scene to the tune of 18 touchdowns and seven interceptions, netting a rating of 151.9.
Sellers might just be able to be what Colts fans wished Anthony Richardson was, as he’s a big-bodied quarterback with rushing upside. In his sophomore year, Sellers tacked on another 674 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground. With a big junior year campaign, Sellers could rise to the level of a prospect so coveted that the Colts may be forced to trade up to land him.
Round 2: Zeke Berry, CB, Michigan
It’s no secret that the Colts' secondary is one of the biggest question mark spots on the roster. The CB1 and CB2 roles for the Colts will be filled by fresh faces, with new signee Charvarius Ward taking the CB1 role and third-round draft pick Justin Walley taking CB2 reps at training camp.
In an ideal world, the secondary will reach its ceiling and become a serviceable unit for Indianapolis. However, if they’re picking this high in the draft, it probably means that help is needed.
Enter Zeke Berry, cornerback from Michigan. He will be a senior this year, and thus, he will be more developed physically for the NFL transition than a lot of his junior year counterparts. Berry was a contributor for the 2023 Michigan National Championship team, playing in 11 games despite how loaded the team was with talent.
2024 was when he really came into his own, however, registering 37 tackles, 2 interceptions, and 3 tackles for loss with a forced fumble to boot. Berry is a player accustomed to a winning culture and knows how to be a productive part of a successful team. If the Colts are able to snag him, he would go a long way in helping out the cornerback room.
Round 3: Michael Taaffe, S, Texas
It’s no secret that Nick Cross had an emergent season last year, stepping up to be a big contributor on the defense. However, a team can never have too many good football players, and at pick 71, Michael Taaffe might just be too good of a value to pass up. After all, what’s better than one quality safety? Another one in the mix!
Michael Taffe is a redshirt senior safety coming out of Texas. He was originally a walk-on there, but quickly rose through the ranks, earning a bid as a Burlsworth Trophy (most outstanding walk-on) nominee in his sophomore year. In his junior year, his best campaign to date, he was a Second-Team AP All-American.
Ultimately, what this pick came down to is that the offense already has enough playmakers at receiver and running back, and with Braden Smith and recently extended Bernard Raimann, there was no immediate need for a tackle. At this point in the draft, it's usually best practice to go for the best player available, and Michael Taaffe fits that bill.
With the pick of Taaffe, if this is how the Colts' 2026 draft plays out, they will have added, hopefully, three productive contributors (and what could end up being the franchise QB the Colts have searched for since the days of Andrew Luck).
Now, this entire mock draft does hinge on the Colts having a top pick, which means that the next season will have been a bust, so that obviously doesn't align with how the Colts are hoping this season goes.
Still, if it does end up going that way, then the Colts could be very happy with the selection of someone like LaNorris Sellers, provided that his junior year campaign lives up to the stellar pedigree of his sophomore outing.