Colts Draft Preview

As everyone knows, the first round of the draft is tomorrow night. Also in news to no one, the Colts do not have a first round pick. I'm actually not going to criticize Grigson for the T-Rich trade, I thought it was an awesome deal at the time and I'm holding out hope that Trent plays like the top-5 pick he was. I think that he will be a much better player with a healthier and better O-line and more familiarity with the playbook.

As far as the draft goes, there has been a lot of rumblings about the Colts trading up to get into the first round. I just don't see it happening with the value of draft picks and the fact that Kevin Costner isn't our GM. This year's draft seems to be much deeper than years past so I don't think that a trade would pay huge dividends. I tried to keep in mind schools/ types of programs the Colts typically go for in my possible picks. As far as needs goes:

Receivers:
I don't want to admit it, but Reggie's getting older and TY is better suited to playing the homerun threat. Hakeem Nicks is a nice pickup, but even if he plays well, he's a one year rental. According to all the experts receiver is a strong point of this draft and I look for the Colts to target a big receiver with their first pick. Sammy Watkins and Mike Evans will be long gone by our pick and I don't see Latimer from IU falling far enough. Possible picks: Donte Moncrief from Ole Miss, Davante Adams from Fresno State.

O-Line:
As of right now, the starting lineup is fairly set, but Phil Costa's retirement kinda set the team back. There will inevitably be an early season injury to one of the starters so look for the Colts to continue their trend of spending at least two picks on O-line depth. I'd like to see an intelligent center or a guard with a mean streak here.  Possible picks: Gabe Jackson from Mississippi St. or Marcus Martin from USC.

Safety:
Some would say this is the biggest need in the draft, but Grigson and Pagano have been pretty focused on getting Luck weapons so I don't see them targeting a safety until round 3 or 4. Bethea was a huge loss and one of my favorite Colts ever, but the team really couldn't afford to keep him. Possible picks: If they go for a safety in round 2: Deone Bucannon from Wash. St. or Jimmie Ward from Northern Illinois. If it's a later pick: Craig Loston from LSU or Brock Vereen from Minnesota.

Bold Prediction:
Grigson pulls off a trade, but not one in the first round. Like I said, there's a ton of value in the 2nd through 4th rounds. I look for Grigson to try to double up in 2nd or 3rd round picks or trade up within those rounds.