For the first time in maybe a decade the Indianapolis Colts come into this portion of the season with decent salary cap space. The fact that they’ve not been very active in free agency has a whole lot to do with that. Indianapolis has only brought in four free agents and only cornerback Patrick Robinson is in danger of being a starter.
They’ve only kept two of their own free agents, tight end Dwayne Allen and kicker Adam Vinatieri and everyone else has hit the streets. That leaves 14 open roster spots without even trying and with just six draft picks in this year’s annual amateur player selection meeting, the Colts will have to make them all count.
I think I’ve done pretty well for them here in this Perfect Mock Draft. To see every team’s Perfect Draft, click in this general area.
Round 1, Pick 18 – Taylor Decker, OT, Ohio State
2015: 42 consecutive starts, 28 straight at left tackle, Big 10 offensive lineman of the year, All-Big 10 first team, 6-foot-7, 310 pounds
For all the hype around Ole Miss’ Laremy Tunsil, Decker just might turn out to be the best tackle in this draft. He’s crazy tall, with long arms and plenty enough strength to shove around defensive ends and blitzing linebackers. Decker can be a day-one starter for the Colts on the right side, then move over to the left late in the season.
Round 2, Pick 48 – Kenny Clark, DT, UCLA
2015: 73 tackles, 10.5 for a loss, 5.5 sacks, five passes defended, 6-foot-3, 314 pounds
The Colts have holes all over their roster for a team everyone picked to go to the Super Bowl last year. All their biggest problems are up front on both sides of the ball. Taking Decker in the first round frees the Colts up to start working on their defense in the second. Two of their starting defensive linemen last season are basically spot-start back-ups. Clark played nose tackle in UCLA’s 4-3 and can easily convert to a 3-4 nose in the Colts’ system. If not for all the quarterbacks taken up to this point in my mock draft (four if you’re counting), Clark would already be gone. The Colts don’t need a quarterback, obviously. They need somebody who can rush the quarterback and make a tackle.
Round 3, Pick 82 – Karl Joseph, Safety, West Virginia
2015: 20 tackles, two for a loss, one sack, five interceptions, one fumble recovery, 5-foot-10, 205 pounds
Those stats are just from four games. Joseph injured his knee early in the season during practice in October. A healthy Joseph could have ended up with double-digit picks and maybe wound up in the second round. As it is, he’ll have to sit a little while longer waiting for the call, but when it comes it will be from a potential playoff and Super Bowl team.
Round 4, Pick 116 – Nick Vigil, ILB, Utah State
2015: 144 tackles, 13.5 for a loss, three sacks, two passes defended, two fumble recoveries, one forced fumble, 6-foot-2, 239 pounds
Vigil’s 2015 stats are absolutely unreal. It’s like he’s playing college football with cheat codes. Vigil is a slick, attacking inside linebacker with 4.71 speed. His height helps him take up space, but he’ll probably need to add about 10 pounds before he can be the kind of NFL performer he needs to be. While he played inside at Utah State, the Colts could probably use him more on the outside as a weak-side linebacker in their four-linebacker set up.
Round 5, Pick 155 – Graham Glasgow, OG, Michigan
2015: Shrine game and senior bowl invitee, 37 career starts, 6-foot-6, 307 pounds
Glasgow is a work-out warrior and hard nosed kid that had to earn his way as a walk-on as a freshman onto one of the best offensive lines in college football. Glasgow is a powerful run blocker with an easy step into the second level to plow linebackers and defensive backs out of the way. He’s can play center as well and is a smart kid. He was an Academic All-Big 10 pick the last two seasons.
Round 7, Pick 242 – Juston Burris, CB, N.C. State
2015: 38 tackles, three for a loss, one interception, seven passes defended, one fumble recovery, one forced fumble, 6-foot-0, 212 pounds
Burris isn’t afraid to compete close to the line and take on running backs. He can shed wideout blocks and is a physical guy who uses his hands early to slow pass-catchers down. Burris started 43 straight games for the Wolfpack and they left him alone on his side of the field for most of it. Of his 38 tackles, 29 were solo.
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