{"id":823330,"date":"2026-03-20T15:25:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T15:25:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/823330\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T15:25:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T15:25:14","slug":"colts-make-curious-pick-in-2026-mock-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/823330\/","title":{"rendered":"Colts make curious pick in 2026 mock draft"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>March 20, 2026, 10:33 a.m. ET<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">In a three-round post-free agency mock draft, the<a href=\"\/\" data-t-l=\":b|e|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\"> Indianapolis Colts<\/a> addressed one major need and made another head-scratching pick.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Following the free agency frenzy, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nfl\/draft\/news\/2026-nfl-mock-draft-3-rounds-post-free-agency\/\" data-t-l=\":b|z|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Josh Edwards of CBS Sports<\/a> put together a three-round mock draft. With the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdata.usatoday.com\/football\/nfl\/teams\/indianapolis-colts\/338\" data-autotag=\"d3fda36a-3eb5-4700-8763-caba831c06ae\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-t-l=\":b|e|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\">Colts<\/a> not having a first-round pick, they made two selections in this mock.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Let&#8217;s break it down.<\/p>\n<p>Pick 47: LB Anthony Hill Jr., Texas<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">This pick would be a home run pick for the Colts. Although the team just signed free agent<a href=\"http:\/\/coltswire.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/nfl\/colts\/2026\/03\/18\/3-observations-colts-signing-free-agent-akeem-davis-gaither\/89217037007\/\" data-t-l=\":b|e|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> Akeem Daivs-Gaither<\/a>, linebacker remains a major priority for the Colts as they are still short on depth and competition at this position group.<\/p>\n<p>Expert NFL picks: <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-t-l=\":body nav (nfl)|e|auto spike click:4|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_sp_a\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdata.usatoday.com\/football\/nfl\/picks\">Exclusive betting insights only at USA TODAY.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Hill would bring a do-it-all presence to the Colts&#8217; linebacker room &#8212; a very valuable skill set in Lou Anarumo&#8217;s defense, where versatility is vital. He can make an impact as a blitzer, in the run game, and in coverage.<\/p>\n<p>Pick 78: RB Mike Washington Jr., Arkansas<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Listed at 6-2, 228 pounds, Washington had a breakout season in 2025, rushing for 1,066 yards while averaging a whopping 6.4 yards per attempt. Washington was fairly active in the passing game as well, totaling 36 targets and scoring nine total touchdowns, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pff.com\/\" data-t-l=\":b|z|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">per PFF<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">With that said, given the pressing needs that the Colts have at several other positions, taking a running back in the top 100 with relatively limited draft capital doesn&#8217;t seem like the prudent move for Chris Ballard to make, when Jonathan Taylor is going to continue to shoulder the workload here.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Now, competition behind Taylor for that RB2 role is needed, but not to the extent that the Colts need to use a premium pick on this position.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"March 20, 2026, 10:33 a.m. ET In a three-round post-free agency mock draft, the Indianapolis Colts addressed one&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":823331,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2059],"tags":[95878,2005,7,2004,392,2381,6,49915,95900,95882,95903,95901,95906,95883,95881],"class_list":{"0":"post-823330","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-indianapolis-colts","8":"tag-accessfree","9":"tag-colts","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-indianapolis","12":"tag-indianapolis-colts","13":"tag-indianapoliscolts","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-sstssportsnflcolts","16":"tag-sstsncolts","17":"tag-tagamerican-football","18":"tag-tagindianapolis-colts","19":"tag-tagjonathan-taylor","20":"tag-tagoverall-positive","21":"tag-tagsports-news","22":"tag-typestory"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116262202936109174","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=823330"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823330\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/823331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=823330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=823330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=823330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}