With still over two months to go until the 2020 NFL draft arrives, there will be several pundits conducting mock drafts while predicting who the Indianapolis Colts might take with their first-round pick.
As the offseason has progressed, there have been a few themes as to which prospects the Colts will target. It typically comes down to a quarterback, a defensive tackle and sometimes a wide receiver.
In Mel Kiper’s second mock draft of the offseason, the Colts went with one of the top defensive tackle prospects in the form of South Carolina’s Javon Kinlaw.
The Colts, a surprise playoff team in 2018, took a step backward last season, but it wasn’t just on the offense. No, Jacoby Brissett wasn’t Andrew Luck, but injuries decimated Brissett’s receiving core. And injuries hurt the defense too, with Darius Leonard, Kenny Moore II, Malik Hooker and Jabaal Sheard among the starters who missed time. The result was a league-average unit overall but one that allowed quarterbacks to complete 70.1% of their passes, which ranked 31st in the league. This defense needs depth. The Colts could target a corner here, but this might be Kinlaw’s floor, and he’ll help the back end of the defense, too. A massive, 6-6 interior penetrator, Kinlaw was one of the best prospects in the Senior Bowl.
This selection isn’t all that shocking given what the Colts need and with how often this pick is mocked. Kinlaw would be a high-upside pick for the Colts at a position of need. His ability to get upfield in the one-gap front would be a nice fit.
The other side of the coin is that the Colts pass on a quarterback. Seeing as that is the team’s most-important need at this point, they would likely circle back later to grab one—assuming they didn’t sign a veteran in free agency.
There will be plenty of changes over the course of the next two months but Kinlaw is certainly a prospect to keep an eye on at No. 13.