INDIANAPOLIS – Purely in terms of draft order, the Colts avoided a less than ideal result by blowing the biggest lead in NFL history.
With another loss for Indianapolis—the 4th straight and 7th in their past 8 games—the Colts are now 6th in the draft order with three games left this season.
Had the Colts won on Saturday, their draft position would have fallen to 9th.
The Colts got help from the Saints beating the Falcons on Sunday, moving Indy up one spot this week.
Current 2023 Draft Order
1. Texans: 1-11-1
2. Bears: 3-11
3. Seahawks (from Broncos): 4-10
4. Lions (from Rams): 4-10
5. Cardinals: 4-10
6. Colts: 4-9-1
7. Falcons: 5-9
8. Panthers: 5-9
9. Eagles (from Saints): 5-9
10. Raiders 6-8:
Looking ahead to Week 16, the Colts will get some help from 1 of the 2 teams above them in the draft order. The Rams and Broncos play each other this coming weekend, so the winner of that game will push the Colts up one spot in the draft order, assuming Indianapolis loses to the Chargers.
As long as the Colts lose to the Chargers on Monday Night Football, they’ll enter the final two weeks of the season in the top-5 of the NFL draft order.
For many Colts fans, this is all that matters the rest of 2022.
Instead of the playoff standings, they want to see the 2023 draft order and where the Colts will fall.
With that unanswered QB of the future question looming large, many want to see the Colts in the top-10, and climbing as close as they can to the top-5.
Currently, with a non-QB needy team in the Bears and potentially the Lions above the Colts, that’s further good news in the hope of having a quarterback fall to Indianapolis.
Colts fans also will want to keep an eye on Washington’s record, with the Colts getting their 3rd round pick in 2023 (the Colts do not have their own 2023 third-round pick due last April’s draft trade for Nick Cross).
Currently, these are the Colts draft picks for 2023: Round 1-6, Round 2-38, Round 3-85 (from Washington), Round 4-108, Round 5-142, Round 6-182, Round 6-207 (from Buffalo), Round 7-224.
The Colts will end the season with 3 more games: Chargers, at Giants, Texans.
Jeff Saturday has given no indication the Colts will be resting any starters or playing more to the youth down the stretch.
But fans have all but completely moved on to focus on the draft order for this team in 2023, knowing how important that quarterback question is for the future of the franchise.
For those that still wanting to hear about the faintest of faint possibilities of the Colts making the playoffs, here is that farfetched scenario:
-Colts (4-9-1) win out: Chargers, at Giants, Texans
-Titans (7-7) lose out: Texans, Cowboys, at Jaguars
-Jaguars (6-8) lose their next 2, beat Titans: at Jets, at Texans, Titans
