{"id":838168,"date":"2026-03-28T02:25:33","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T02:25:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/838168\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T02:25:33","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T02:25:33","slug":"colts-top-needs-ranked-among-strongest-position-groups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/838168\/","title":{"rendered":"Colts top needs ranked among strongest position groups"},"content":{"rendered":"

March 27, 2026, 7:06 a.m. ET<\/p>\n

When it comes to where the strengths of the 2026 NFL draft class lie, the Indianapolis Colts<\/a> may be positioned well to address their top needs.<\/p>\n

NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein<\/a> recently ranked all 11 position groups in this year’s draft class from best to worst. Occupying the top two spots on his list are edge rusher and linebacker — the Colts<\/a>‘ two biggest needs.<\/p>\n

At edge rusher, what the Colts really need right now is a more high-impact presence to pair with Laiatu Latu. Ideally, Arden Key and Micheal Clemons will fill more rotational roles.<\/p>\n

“This class figures to provide a strong number of future starters,” Zierlein wrote about the edge rusher position, “with as many as 17 players poised to come off the board in the first three rounds, but the quality of depth will trail off on Day 3. The edge defenders will rule the first round.”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Then, at linebacker for the Colts, depth and competition<\/a> for playing time are needed. Multiple additions should be made by Chris Ballard at this position group.<\/p>\n

Expert NFL picks: Exclusive betting insights only at USA TODAY.<\/a><\/p>\n

“Off-ball linebacker became a consistently sparse offering in the draft over the last several years, but this is one of the strongest groups we’ve seen in a while,” Zierlein wrote. “The linebacker group stays strong in Rounds 3 and 4, with decent depth stretching into the fifth round.”<\/p>\n

Still a challenge for the Colts is that they are short on premium picks with only two selections in the top 100.<\/p>\n

But some more good news is that the interior offensive line and wide receiver positions — two spots where the Colts need to bolster their depth — are listed as the third and fourth-strongest position groups in Zierlein’s rankings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"March 27, 2026, 7:06 a.m. ET When it comes to where the strengths of the 2026 NFL draft…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":696027,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2059],"tags":[95878,2005,7,2004,392,2381,6,49915,95900,95882,98073,95903,97541,111939,95896,95888,95906,95902,95883,95881],"class_list":{"0":"post-838168","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-tagarden-key","19":"tag-tagindianapolis-colts","20":"tag-taglaiatu-latu","21":"tag-tagmicheal-clemons","22":"tag-tagnational-sports","23":"tag-tagnfl","24":"tag-tagoverall-positive","25":"tag-tagsport-scores-statistics","26":"tag-tagsports-news","27":"tag-typestory"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116304433941503670","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838168","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=838168"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838168\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/696027"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=838168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=838168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=838168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}