Colts Round 4 Recap: Oregon Linebacker Bryce Boettcher

INDIANAPOLIS – Linebacker was always going to get a good amount of attention from the Colts in the 2026 Draft.

With the 135^th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, the Colts took Oregon linebacker Bryce Boettcher in Round Four.

Here are 3 takeaways on Boettcher:

4-Down Linebacker?

If anyone watched Oregon’s defense in the last two years, you certainly saw Boettcher roaming from the middle of the defense. Boettcher was one Oregon had to have on the field, including having a strong special teams presence. The Colts got a super up-close look at Boettcher during the Senior Bowl, as assistant linebackers coach Cato June was his position coach. Like CJ Allen in the 2^nd Round, Boettcher on the smaller side of a normal linebacker frame without a ton of turnover-type plays. But he was a two year-starter, racking up the most tackles in 2025 of anyone in the Big Ten for one of the nation’s best defenses.

Baseball Player

This is not the first time Boettcher has been drafted by a professional sports league. Boettcher first went to college to play baseball at Oregon. He actually was drafted by the Houston Astros in the 13^th round of the 2024 MLB Draft. But a walk-on to the football team turned into him loving the “legal violence” that you can have on the gridiron. There were multiple years at Oregon where Boettcher was playing both football and baseball. Boettcher believes there are overlaps in having the instincts of playing centerfield pursuing a ball, to what is needed playing linebacker, too.

Another Linebacker?

It’s not much of a surprise at all to see the Colts draft 2 linebackers in this year’s class. Again, they returned a total of 159 snaps at that position from last year (Austin Ajake-157, Jaylon Carlies-2). Guys like Zaire Franklin, Germaine Pratt, Joe Bachie, Cam McGrone are no longer on the roster. With Akeem Davis-Gaither added in free agency, the Colts still needed some linebacker attention this draft. Although it’s probably fair to question if 2 linebackers in the first 4 selections is the best use of the higher end draft capital., especially with Boettcher thinking his best position is a MIKE linebacker, like 2^nd round pick CJ Allen