Competition. A word that from the beginning in his introductory press conference in early 2017, Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard has preached.
Ballard has always preached adding competition to the roster even if it means putting pressure on the projected starters in the lineup.
“It’s real important, and look, I’ve had it both ways where we’ve had guys make it and some years we don’t… but it’s very important. Look, the undrafted guys are, in my mind, no different than a draft pick. They’re going to get the same opportunity, and if they win the job, then we’ll move on from the other guy. But you can’t preach competition and not live it,” Ballard said all the way back in 2017.
A few weeks out from the Colts’ historic 2023 draft, where the franchise took an eye-popping 12 rookies in the 2023 NFL draft, the most the franchise has made in the modern draft era, there is a ton of newness across the 2023 roster.
Most picks the Colts have ever made (12) in the modern draft era.
Anthony Richardson, QB
Julius Brent, CB
Josh Downs, WR
Blake Freeland, OT, BYU
Adetomiwa Adebawore, DT
Darius Rush, CB
Daniel Scott, S
Will Mallory, TE
Evan Hull, RB
Titus Leo, LB
Jaylon Jones, CB
Jake Witt, OT— Zak Keefer (@zkeefer) April 29, 2023
Pair the number of picks with the high-end athleticism to boot, and you have a ton of competition at multiple positions across the roster.
With these fresh faces added under a new regime, there will be plenty of competition heading into the season, which means some players could be on the outside looking in when it’s all said and done.
Here are four veteran players currently on the Colts roster whose jobs are in jeopardy following the draft: