Source: Icon Sportswire / Getty
INDIANAPOLIS – It’s a draft that will define the Chris Ballard era, with all eyes on the 1st of the 12 selections made by the Colts in 2023.
And this 7th draft for Ballard brought some changes in approach from the Colts general manager.
First, a list of the 12 draftees, the most for the franchise since 1992 (when the draft was 13 rounds):
Round 1: QB-Anthony Richardson (Florida)
Round 2: CB-JuJu Brents (Kansas State)
Round 3: WR-Josh Downs (North Carolina)
Round 4: OT-Blake Freeland (BYU)
Round 4: DL-Adetomiwa Adebawore (Northwestern)
Round 5: CB-Darius Rush (South Carolina)
Round 5: S-Daniel Scott (California)
Round 5: TE-Will Mallory (Miami)
Round 5: RB-Evan Hull (Northwestern)
Round 6: DE-Titus Leo (Wagner)
Round 7: CB-Jaylon Jones (Texas A&M)
Round 7: OT-Jake Witt (Northern Michigan)
Here are 10 takeaways from the 2023 NFL Draft:
1. Shane Steichen’s (Week 1?) Bet
Do the Colts make the selection of Anthony Richardson had they hired Raheem Morris or Wink Martindale?
Would there have been concern of not having the offensive staff stability in place to make sure Richardson’s development stays down a consistent path?
Those are both fair questions and play into why the Colts felt so strongly about making Steichen their head coach.
The selection of Richardson comes with a massive amount of belief in Steichen, and an offensive staff in which includes several members have recent history around dual-threat type quarterbacks.
In Richardson, the Colts have taken a massive swing for the fences.
Now, they need to hold up their side of this marriage with necessary personnel support around the QB and much-needed coaching when it comes to accuracy.
And the first step of that starts this coming week with the rookie minicamp, and Richardson leading the first-year guys on the field this weekend.
It’s late April, but if I were betting, I’ll go with Richardson starting for the Colts in that season opener.
2. Premium Positions
Easily more so than any of Chris Ballard’s 6 previous drafts, this one attacked the premium positions of the football team.
In going quarterback (Anthony Richardson), cornerback (JuJu Brents) wide receiver (Josh Downs) and even offensive tackle (Blake Freeland) in the first four rounds, the Colts selected players at positions of major need and importance, which has been missing for too much of Ballard’s roster building history. (And it matched the start of our positional mock draft from last week).
Toss in left tackle and edge rusher and these are the positions that matter the most in today’s NFL.
Those 5 positions made up the first four picks for the Colts, 5 of their top 6 selections and 8 of the 12 draftees in this class.
Such an approach by the Colts is an altering of their normal mode of operations, and something that was desperately needed.
3. Elite, Elite Athletic Testers
There’s no more obvious Chris Ballard drafting belief than betting on elite athletic testers.
And this 2023 draft class is filled with them for the Colts, with QB-Anthony Richardson, CB-JuJu Brents, OT-Blake Freeland (highest vertical of any offensive lineman at the Combine since 2003) and DL-Adetomiwa Adebaowre (fastest 40-yard dash of any player weighing more than 280 in the last 20 years) standing out in that realm.
Ballard is obsessed with extremely long and quick prospects, no matter the position on the field.
If you are one of the top testers at the Combine, have Senior Bowl on your resume and were a captain in college, Ballard is going to be a major fan of yours.
4. Necessary Wide Receiver Complement
It wasn’t just that wide receiver was a need for the Colts in this draft, there was a specific type of wideout needed.
And that’s the slot potential with the quick and elusive Josh Downs.
In the last 2 seasons, Downs caught 195 balls, lining up almost exclusively in the slot.
This type of receiver is what the Colts really need to balance out the bigger bodied options in Michael Pittman and Alec Pierce.
It’s been a while since the Colts have had that consistent slot option, who can use his quickness to create separation on the shorter-to-intermediate routes.
5. Finally, Some Hope
It was the biggest thing the Colts had to get done in this draft.
They had to make a quarterback selection, and attempt to go down the path necessary to try and achieve some semblance of long-term success.
And that’s what they did by selecting 20-year-old Anthony Richardson.
Obviously, there are tons and tons of questions for Richardson to answer, and development as a thrower will be heavily scrutinized.
But with the selection of Richardson the Colts have at least tried to build something that could lend them to having a quarterback answer for the next 5-to-10 years.
Just look at the AFC and the 7 playoff teams from last year—all 7 of those quarterbacks were drafted by that team and all 7 were the under the age of the 27.
It was time for the Colts to try and join that market.
6. Quarterback Support
It wasn’t overwhelming, but the Colts certainly took some strides in trying to support their young QB with this draft.
Josh Downs in Round 3 is the most obvious of that pick.
But you also have Round 4/5 selections in OT-Blake Freeland, TE-Will Mallory and RB-Evan Hull who could be potential long-term pieces.
And, all of a sudden that tight end room looks crowded, with an in-line blocking element still up in the air.
Still though, this overall thought of ‘supporting your QB’ can’t be forgotten about. Remember the growth of the likes of Josh Allen and Jalen Hurts once they got Stefon Diggs and A.J. Brown, respectively?
7. Starting Job To A Local Kid?
From a strictly positional need standpoint, nothing matched cornerback for the Colts entering this draft.
And it’s quite possible Indy native Julius (JuJu) Brents is a Day One starter in Indy. And he probably has the best chance to be a 17-game starter of any of the Colts rookies.
Brents is an extremely long corner, with impressive short-area quickness numbers at the Combine. The Warren Central High School product also had a Bob Sanders jersey growing up as the missile at safety was his favorite player.
If Brents does become an opening day starter, he’ll do it without spring work as he’s still rehabbing an off-season wrist procedure. Brents should be full-go for training camp.
8. Cornerback Receives Needed Attention
When I made my positional mock draft, I had 2 cornerback selections in the first four rounds. Well, the Colts picked a pair of corners in the first five rounds. And then took another in Round 7.
And this was needed given the makeup of the depth chart.
Kenny Moore (free agent next offseason), Isaiah Rodgers Sr. (free agent next offseason), and Dallis Flowers are the team’s top 3 cornerbacks.
So, clearly, short-term and long-term questions are there at cornerback.
It looks like JuJu Brents (Round 2) and Darius Rush (Round 5) are both outside corners. Hope here should be 1 of these 2 becoming a long-term answer as an outside CB. The future at slot remains a question with Moore entering a contract year.
9. Hopeful Sign on Shaquille Leonard?
This might be a tad wishful, but I think it’s worth pointing out.
So the Colts just drafted their most players (12) since 1992 and none of them were a linebacker.
What does that mean for the Colts belief in Shaquille Leonard returning to his normal self?
Maybe not a ton, but you would think if the Colts had major concerns with Leonard, linebacker would have been a higher priority in the draft.
Along with linebacker, no interior offensive line selection was the other (only?) mystery in not taking one in this draft.
Linebacker wise, keep on watching the growth of E.J. Speed as he returns for a 5th season.
10. Dynamic Rushing Attack Right Away
If the Colts went out and played tomorrow, they would have one of the more feared rushing attacks in the league with Anthony Richardson and Jonathan Taylor.
That’s no question.
And when is the last time you described the Colts offense with ‘fear’ for an opponent?
Obviously, whenever the Colts turn to Richardson under center (which I think will happen sooner rather than later), you are going to have major questions about the effectiveness/consistency of the passing offense.
But the run game should be near the top of the NFL, very early in Richardson’s career.
Off of that, the Colts are going to create more demand for defenders near the line of scrimmage, which should open up more chances to get the ball downfield.
