Though the Indianapolis Colts have strong feelings about the players currently comprising their wide receiver room, there is always a chance to add more to that group.
As Michael Pittman Jr., is set to take over as the alpha in the room, general manager Chris Ballard has excitement about that development. But it won’t stop them from adding to the room during the 2021 NFL draft.
In fact, Ballard told Dan Dakich of 1070 The Fan that he believes this upcoming draft class is comparable to 2020.
“It’s going to be really good. The draft is going to be as good as it was last year,” Ballard said. “I like our young receivers. (Asked about adding wideouts) You always want to. You always want to add weapons to your team.”
The 2020 draft class produced at a high level during their rookie season. It was even historic in some ways after Justin Jefferson broke the receiving yards record for a rookie wide receiver. Then there are the players like CeeDee Lamb, Chase Claypool, Tee Higgins and Brandon Aiyuk, to name a few.
The Colts have a lot of faith in Pittman Jr. being the WR1 of the future. Even if they sign veteran T.Y. Hilton, which is currently up in the air, Pittman Jr. should be taking on the role as the alpha in the room.
“I think Michael Pittman is going to be a great player. I think you saw it,” Ballard said. “If he doesn’t have the compartment syndrome (injury) and misses the three games, and that was a serious injury, and he fought to come back and it took a little bit of time to come back, I think you saw in the Tennessee and playoff game, he was outstanding.”
The Colts also have options in free agency if that’s the route they want to go but that seems unlikely given how the salary cap needs to be spent this offseason.
We are still months away from the draft so how the Colts will go about adding to the wide receiver room isn’t all that clear. But don’t be surprised if Ballard uses one of his selections in April to bring in another face.
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