Every year, NFL teams try their best to predict the future of prospects. However, as we know, it’s impossible to accurately predict how things will play out. If teams could do that, there would be no such thing as draft misses. In reality, there are a ton of misses every single draft.
While the league is about to turn its attention to the 2024 NFL Draft, some are taking time to look back at the 2023 Draft almost a year later. The class just finished their first season in the NFL, and while the majority of their careers are in front of them, we’ve seen enough to already rearrange what would happen if everyone had the opportunity to re-draft.
David Kenyon recently partook in this activity in a piece for Bleacher Report, and as expected, there is some change at the top of the draft, impacting teams like the Indianapolis Colts. The original first four picks saw Bryce Young going to the Carolina Panthers, CJ Stroud and Will Anderson to the Houston Texans, and Anthony Richardson landing with the Colts.
In this re-draft, Kenyon sees Carolina selecting Stroud, Houston grabbing Richardson and Anderson, and Bryce Young ending up in Indianapolis.
Colts select Bryce Young in 2023 re-draft
This order is understandable based on what everyone saw during these players’ rookie season. CJ Stroud had an incredible rookie season and would definitely go first if teams had a do over. Anthony Richardson didn’t play a full season, but his 173 snaps over four games has everyone convinced that he’s the future of the league. Will Anderson Jr. will likely win Defensive Rookie of the Year and the jury is still out on Bryce Young.
While this probably would be the order in a re-draft, what doesn’t change is the context of the situations that each player is drafted to. While everyone is often desperate to give all credit or blame to players, circumstances matter. CJ Stroud going to the Panthers would have likely resulted in his rookie season looking more similar to Bryce Young’s than his actual rookie year.
As far as Young with the Colts, it’s safe to say that he would’ve had a much better time in Indy than he had in Carolina. Indianapolis has a much better offensive line, weapons, and coaching. The narrative around the No. 1 pick would be much different if he initially went at No. 4 to the Colts.
Things unfolded the way they did; now it’s up to each team to make their decisions the right one.