The Colts ended up drafting UCLA edge rusher Laiatu Latu in the first round at 15th overall–a prospect that GM Chris Ballard said was the best defensive player in this draft.
But before making that selection, the Colts did try to make a trade up in the first round. And from what Ballard had to say on Thursday night, these weren’t just inquisitive calls, but the Colts had “big offers” on the table.
“We had some serious, serious discussions,” said Ballard about trading up. “Yes. With big offers, by the way. So we made a push, but you’ve got to get two to tango. Nobody was moving and there were some good players available at the top of the draft. When you’re sitting there, you ask yourself, if is worth moving back to 15 and missing out.”
The 2024 NFL Draft began with a historic run on offensive players, that included the first 14 selections all being from that side of the ball.
Given that factor, along with the Colts getting who they believe was the top defender and the team having a major need at wide receiver, we can make an educated guess that Ballard’s efforts to move up were for one of the top receivers in this year’s draft.
“Well, we were going up for a good player,” said Ballard when asked if he was trying to trade up for an offensive player. “Since I told you I thought we took the best defensive player, you can put that together.”
While overall, this is a very deep wide receiver draft class, where impact help can be found beyond the first day, the three receivers at the top of this draft class, Marvin Harrison Jr., Rome Odunze, and Malik Nabers, are in a class of their own.
Tight end Brock Bowers, who was very reliable and excellent after the catch at Georgia, could have been another target for the Colts.
As had been projected for a while, Harrison went fourth overall to Arizona. Nabers was selected by the New York Giants at sixth, and Odunze went to Chicago at ninth overall. Bowers went to Las Vegas at pick 13.
Again, just guessing, but that ninth spot occupied by the Bears felt like a realistic landing spot for the Colts prior to the draft if they were looking to trade up. With the Bears only having four draft picks in total, they could have been a trade-down a candidate and that could have allowed the Colts to land Odunze with how the board had fallen.
This is a Colts offense that needs more juice and playmaking potential after ranking in the bottom half of the league last season in explosive pass plays. They also should be putting as much firepower around their young quarterback, Anthony Richardson, as possible to put him in the best position to be successful.
While the Colts have a solid foundation at the receiver position in Michael Pittman and Josh Downs, both players averaged under 12.0 yards per catch last season. And in Shane Steichen’s offense, having a consistent vertical presence is an important element.
Going into Day 2 of the draft, the Colts have two selections at 46th and 82nd overall. Again, with how deep this draft class is, they should have the opportunity to find some immediate help.