INDIANAPOLIS —Marshall Faulk. Peyton Manning. Andrew Luck.
Since 1995, those are the names of the players selected by the Indianapolis Colts when they've had a top-three overall pick in the NFL Draft.
And, come late-April, a fourth name will be added to that list.
By virtue of their 22-13 victory over the Houston Texans on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium, the Colts will officially pick third overall in the upcoming 2018 NFL Draft.
The Cleveland Browns will pick both first and fourth overall; the New York Giants are at No. 2 overall.
With a top-three pick, there's obviously a plethora of very attractive options at the Colts' disposal. This upcoming draft appears to be very defense-heavy as far as the top-end talent, with N.C. State defensive end Bradley Chubb, Florida State safety Derwin James, Georgia inside linebacker Roquan Smith and Alabama safety Minkah Fitzpatrick all considered to be top-five talent.
And, of course, Colts general manager Chris Ballard could always choose to trade one of the top overall picks for what would assuredly be a very nice return. Last season, for example, the San Francisco 49ers traded the No. 2-overall pick to the Chicago Bears in exchange for their first-round (third overall), third-round (67 overall), fourth-round (111 overall) and 2018 third-round picks.
So, essentially, the 49ers moved down just one spot, still stayed in the Top 3, and got much more on top of that.
What the Colts will actually do is anybody's guess. In his first draft as the Colts' general manager last year, Ballard continued to stress the team's desire to get the best available player when they went on the clock.
But for a little taste of what the outsiders think the Colts would do with the No. 3-overall pick, let's take a look at some of the early (and we mean *early) *mock drafts out there:
• Charlie Campbell, WalterFootball.com: Saquon Barkley, RB, Penn State
• Eddie Brown, San Diego Union-Tribuine: Bradley Chubb, DE, N.C. State
• Dan Kadar, SB Nation: Saquon Barkley, RB, Penn State
• Joe Marino, FanRag Sports Network: Clelin Ferrell, DE, Clemson
• DraftSite.com: Saquon Barkley, RB, Penn State
• DraftBlaster.com: Connor Williams, OT, Texas
• Connor Riley, SEC Country: Connor Williams, OT, Texas
• Chris Ransom, Draft Uptopia: Saquon Barkley, RB, Penn State
• FootballCoachScout.com: Bradley Chubb, DE, N.C. State
• NFLDraftExpress.com: Minkah Fitzpatrick, DB, Alabama
• MyNFLDraft.com: Bradley Chubb, DE, N.C. State
