The big local sports news has been our Colts trading down from the third pick in the upcoming 2018 NFL College draft in exchange for the New York Jets sixth pick plus two second round picks. The team also gets a second round pick in the 2019 draft. A possible trade had been rumored for some time. The Colts are the lone team with a top five pick that didn’t need a quarterback. The Jets are looking hard at drafting UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen to build their team around. The Cleveland Browns have picks one and four. They are expected to take Sam Darnold, the quarterback from USC. The New York Giants have the number two pick but will come out ahead if they could get the right deal from a team like..say… the Buffalo Bills.
Things may work out that the Colts still may be able to select the player they had targeted in the first place, edge rush Bradley Chubb from North Carolina State. If he is taken before the sixth pick there are several blue chip players that could be of great help to the Horseshoe.
The key is the second round picks they acquired from the Jets. They now have three total picks in that round: Their own fourth pick, the Jets fifth pick, and the 17th pick the Jets acquired from Seattle. They can really draft some top flight players with those picks. They have the third pick in the third round so it could be a rich draft for the team.
GM Chris Ballard has caught some heat from the media and fans for not aggressively pursuing some top name free agents in the off season despite having considerable salary cap space. Media types including Reggie Wayne were practically demanding that he sign former Miami Dolphin defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh to beef up the Colts woeful defensive line. Ballard finally said that the prices that free agents were asking were just too high and he didn’t want to commit the team to a large cap-eating contract for an overpriced player. Last year the team signed former New York Giant defensive lineman Jonathan Hankins to a big contract. He enjoyed a solid season as a run stuffer in the three/four set the Colts used last year. Since the team is switching to a four down defensive line set this year Hankins didn’t fit in and was released. The Colts had to eat the rest of his contract. Ballard doesn’t want a similar occurrence this year. The only free agent of note that the team has signed is former Detroit Lion Eric Ebron. Ebron was Detroit’s number one draft pick in 2014 and is a solid receiver although his blocking is suspect. The team may sign more free agents after the draft.
Ballard has committed to building the team through the draft as Bill Pollian did 18 years ago. The excitement of free agency in March always stirs up the fan base and gives columnists such as myself something to write about but in the end it’s strong drafting that puts a team in the Super Bowl. Chris Ballard has a solid reputation for drafting capable players. Lets give him the benefit of the doubt….for now.
SDN.