The Indianapolis Colts had one prospect on their board they just couldn’t let fall as soon as they were on the clock with their first selection of the 2020 NFL draft. Wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. was simply too valuable to them.
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Some analysts had Pittman Jr. projected as a late first-round pick. Others had him pegged more as a mid-second round pick but the consensus among draft analysts was that the USC product has what it takes to make an impact immediately.
Anthony Treash of Pro Football Focus believes him being taken at No. 34 overall is one of the biggest steals of the draft.
PICK 34 — WR MICHAEL PITTMAN JR., INDIANAPOLIS COLTS
PFF Big Board rank: 22
Pittman not going in the first round as he should have and being available at pick No. 34 was a dream scenario for the Colts. In PFF Lead Draft Analyst Mike Renner’s perfect team-prospect pairings article prior to the draft, Pittman to the Colts was among them. At 6-foot-4, Pittman has an enormous catch radius and owns great ball skills — he dropped only 2.8% of the catchable targets thrown his way in college. He’s a great possession receiver and is going to be a great complement to Philip Rivers and T.Y. Hilton.
There is no denying the fit between Pittman Jr. and the Colts. It almost seemed too good to be true during the pre-draft process, and it seems the Colts felt the same way.
After Tee Higgins went off the board with the pick ahead of them, general manager Chris Ballard decided it was best to secure Pittman Jr. as the pick rather than waiting for him 10 spots later.
“We had a couple offers, but they weren’t ones that just made you turn your head and say, ‘You know what, we need to do this.’ When (Tee) Higgins went at (pick) 33 we said, ‘You know what, this is the time to take (Michael) Pittman,'” Ballard said on Day 2 of the draft. “We had Pittman ranked really high on our board. We liked him. I liked him. This kid is going to be a heck of a pro. We are excited about getting him.”
Pittman Jr. should immediately compete for the WR2 role opposite T.Y. Hilton and could still wind up being a steal in the draft despite being the eighth wide receiver taken.
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