Putting mock drafts together is an inexact science.
You can compile all the team needs, year-over-year draft trends and player evaluations you want. Weird, unpredictable stuff will happen in the draft – someone who's a "lock" to go to one team will wind up getting drafted before or after that team goes on the clock.
And anything you may have seen in the past few weeks about a team liking a guy or not – chances are it's inaccurate, a guess, or an inaccurate guess.
"Just look at the mock drafts and tell me how accurate they are after the draft," Colts general manager Chris Ballard said a year ago. "Nobody knows. Nobody is giving out information."
Whatever information comes from teams is probably subterfuge. And teams have access to much, much more information than the public possesses. Keep that in mind as we turn our attention to the stage in Detroit and actually find out who these teams are going to pick.
But let's go back to this time last year, when the Colts held the No. 4 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft and had two other top-80 selections. We here at Colts.com aggregated 136 mock drafts, and actually, mock draft'ers did a pretty good job: 71 of those 136 had the Colts selecting quarterback Anthony Richardson in the first round, by far the highest total of any player.
And the most mocked player to the Colts with second or third round picks was wide receiver Josh Downs, who five prescient experts predicted would wind up in Indianapolis. The Colts selected North Carolina receiver in the third round, and he broke Bill Brooks' long-standing franchise rookie receptions record in 2023.
But last year was maybe a little easier – the Colts were in the market for a quarterback, and there were only a handful of quarterbacks who anyone figured would be available with the No. 4 overall pick.
The last time the Colts had a later first round pick was 2021, when they used the No. 21 overall selection on defensive end Kwity Paye. Twenty different players were mocked to the Colts that year by the ones we collected, and Paye was behind two players in total mocks – one of whom wasn't even drafted in the first round.
So consider this your annual disclaimer: Nobody knows what the Colts will do on Thursday and Friday night, and then Saturday afternoon in Detroit. The Colts don't even know – it depends on how things play out ahead of them. Realistically, only one or two teams know what they're going to do in a given draft. The rest are reading their board and reacting to what happens ahead of them.
But with that in mind, the mock drafts we've been collecting over the last few weeks should serve as a guide for who the Colts could take, not who they will take. Consider these the names you should know heading into Thursday and Friday – even though they could be off the board by the time the Colts pick, or could be guys the Colts pass on who are taken later in the first round, or even could be guys who slide into the second round.
The draft is unpredictable, and that's what makes it such an intriguing, drama-filled, made-for-TV event.
Before we get into the final numbers, though, let's add a few mock drafts that came in after our last Monday update:
——————
Selection (No. 29 overall, trade down with Detroit Lions): Payton Wilson, LB, N.C. State
Selection (No. 46 overall): Xavier Legette, WR, South Carolina
Selection (No. 61 overall, acquired in mock trade with Lions): Kris Jenkins, DL, Michigan
Selection (No. 82 overall): Mason McCormick, G, South Dakota State
Expert: Pro Football Focus staff
Date of mock draft: April 22 (link)
——————
Selection (No. 9 overall, trade up with Chicago Bears): Brock Bowers, TE, Georgia
Expert: Eric Edholm, NFL.com
Date of mock draft: April 22 (link)
——————
Selection (No. 15 overall): Quinyon Mitchell, CB, Toledo
Expert: Nate Davis, USA Today
Date of mock draft: April 22 (link)
——————
Selection (No. 15 overall): Terrion Arnold, CB, Alabama
Expert: Ryan Wilson, CBS Sports
Date of mock draft: April 23 (link)
——————
Selection (No. 15 overall): Dallas Turner, DE, Alabama
Experts: Charles McDonald & Nate Tice, Yahoo Sports
Date of mock draft: April 23 (link)
——————
Selection (No. 15 overall): Brock Bowers, TE, Georgia
Expert: Chris Simms, NBC Sports
Date of mock draft: April 23 (link)
——————
Selection (No. 15 overall): Cooper DeJean, CB, Iowa
Expert: Gordon McGuinness, Pro Football Focus
Date of mock draft: April 23 (link)
——————
Selection (No. 15 overall): Quinyon Mitchell, CB, Toledo
Expert: Bucky Brooks, NFL.com
Date of mock draft: April 23 (link)
——————
Selection (No. 9 overall, trade up with Chicago Bears): Brock Bowers, TE, Georgia
Expert: Conor Orr, Sports Illustrated
Date of mock draft: April 23 (link)
——————
Selection (No. 11 overall, trade up with New England Patriots via Minnesota Vikings): Brock Bowers, TE, Georgia
Experts: Rick Spielman & Mike Tannenbaum, The 33rd Team
Date of mock draft: April 23 (link)
——————
Selection (No. 15 overall): Quinyon Mitchell, CB, Toledo
Expert: Mike Florio, NBC Sports
Date of mock draft: April 23 (link)
——————
Selection (No. 15 overall): Cooper DeJean, CB, Iowa
Expert: Rob Rang, Fox Sports
Date of mock draft: April 23 (link)
——————
Selection (No. 9 overall, trade up with Chicago Bears): Rome Odunze, WR, Washington
Expert: Danny Kelly, The Ringer
Date of mock draft: April 24 (link)
——————
Selection (No. 15 overall): Brian Thomas Jr., WR, LSU
Expert: Benjamin Solak, The Ringer
Date of mock draft: April 24 (link)
——————
With these mocks added to what we've compiled, here's the full list of players various experts have predicted the Colts will select in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft:
- Toledo CB Quinyon Mitchell (39 mocks)
- Alabama CB Terrion Arnold (32)
- Georgia TE Brock Bowers (29)
- Iowa CB Cooper DeJean (16)
- LSU WR Brian Thomas Jr. (10)
- Clemson CB Nate Wiggins (8)
- Alabama DE Dallas Turner (6)
- Texas DT Byron Murphy II (6)
- UCLA DE Laiatu Latu (5)
- Florida State DE Jared Verse (4)
- Florida State WR Keon Coleman (2)
- Alabama CB Kool-Aid McKinstry (2)
- LSU WR Malik Nabers (2)
- Oregon WR Troy Franklin (1)
- Florida State CB Renardo Green (1)
- Texas WR Adonai Mitchell (1)
- Washington WR Rome Odunze (1)
- North Carolina State LB Payton Wilson (1)
Remember, this is not a list meant to predict who the Colts will actually draft on Thursday – more a list of names to be acquainted with.
A few mocks also made second- and third-round projections for the Colts, which gave us this list of players:
- Missouri CB Kris Abrams-Draine
- Wisconsin RB Braelon Allen
- Alabama DE Chris Braswell
- Kansas DE Austin Booker
- Western Kentucky WR Malachi Corley
- Michigan RB Blake Corum
- Oregon DE Brandon Dorlus
- Florida State DT Braden Fiske
- Michigan DT Kris Jenkins
- Florida State CB Jarrian Jones
- Western Michigan DE Marshawn Kneeland
- Georgia CB Kamari Lassiter
- South Carolina WR Xavier Legette
- USC RB MarShawn Lloyd
- South Dakota State G Mason McCormick
- Minnesota S Tyler Nubin
- Florida WR Ricky Pearsall
- Kentucky CB Andru Phillips
- Washington WR Ja'Lynn Polk
- Kansas G/T Dominic Puni
- USC WR Brenden Rice
- Missouri DE Darius Robinson
- Michigan CB Mike Sainristil
- Texas TE Ja'Tavion Sanders
- Texas DT D'Vondre Sweat
- Texas Tech S Dadarion Taylor-Demerson
- LSU WR Brian Thomas Jr.
- Florida State WR Johnny Wilson
- Texas WR Xavier Worthy
With this list, at least one expert predicted the Colts will draft a player at every position except quarterback, kicker, punter and long snapper with a first-, second- or third-round selection. Several drafts had the Colts trading up or trading down. More than anything, this final roundup shows a prevailing thought at the Colts enter the 2024 NFL Draft:
Everything is on the table. And finally, it's time to find who the Colts will add to their roster – and how they'll go about doing it.
Up Next: 2024 Schedule Release
Play Jim Irsay’s Million Dollar Schedule Challenge HERE for your chance to win $1 Million! Don't wait, contest ends 4/30 at 11:59pm ET!
The Colts 2024 Schedule will be released in May! Follow along with our Live Schedule Tracker and join the Official Priority List to get first access to tickets.
