Our friends at SB Nation NFL published their 2027 NFL Mock Draft, and while the Indianapolis Colts also don’t have next year’s first round pick as a result of last year’s trade deadline Sauce Gardner deal, it’s interesting to think about the potential possibilities.
For what’s it’s worth, SB Nation’s James Dator projected the New York Jets to select Oklahoma defensive lineman David Stone with the 16th overall pick that otherwise would’ve belonged to the Colts.
It’s a defensive tackle, where while the
Colts have one of the best veteran duos in the league when fully healthy—with DeForest Buckner and Grover Stewart, it’s a tandem that’s getting long in the tooth both at 32-years-old.
Buckner is entering the last year of his Colts contract and is recovering from a serious neck injury, while this is also the last year of the run-stuffing Stewart’s contract as well.
Even though starting positions opposite wideout Alec Pierce and defensive end Laiatu Latu remain big positions needs right now respectively, and certainly could continue to be, if Indianapolis doesn’t properly address those positions further this offseason through either free agency or a trade, don’t sleep at defensive tackle either.
Reviewing this Colts roster right now, if you picked the three biggest question marks going forward when factoring in apparent hole, age, and contracts, I would project the Colts to look at the positions of wideout, defensive end, and defensive tackle with their first pick (*presumably their second round pick) next year.
Of course, a team shouldn’t draft purely on positional need either come draft weekend, as you have to factor in best player available too given their draft board.
