Daniel Jeremiah gives thoughts on a Colts’ trade back
With one week officially away from the 2021 NFL draft, the Indianapolis Colts are in a prime spot to either select a player they like or move back from the No. 21 overall pick.
Of course, it all depends on how the draft board falls next Thursday night, but most would expect to the Colts to trade down from No. 21, especially after giving up at third-round pick in the deal to acquire quarterback Carson Wentz from the Philadelphia Eagles.
With needs at edge rusher and offensive tackle, NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah believes there is easily a chance where Indy trades back and still finds a way to address that need.
“I think the edge rusher to me would make a lot of sense if that’s what you’re going to do is go edge rusher,” said Jeremiah on a conference call with NFL media members. “I think you can slide back because there is a clump of guys all in there together. You’re probably going to still get one of them, so that would make sense from a trade-back standpoint.”
The edge rusher class is a tricky one this year. There are some intriguing talents for the Colts to consider like Kwity Paye or Azeez Ojulari. Then there are ones with question marks like Jayson Oweh (production) or Jaelan Phillips (injuries).
When it comes to offensive tackle and replacing Anthony Castonzo, Jeremiah believes there is a similar situation in being able to move back but still finding a worthy addition.
“I would say on the offensive tackle, yeah, probably similarly. It’s a similar
situation. If for some reason Rashawn Slater started to drift a little bit, I could make a case that that’s somebody that you’d go up there,” Jeremiah said. “For outside of that, you get into that next tier of tackles and it’s a flavor thing between Tevin Jenkins, (Christian) Darrisaw, (Dillon) Radunz, (Liam) Eichenberg, all that group. Teams have them all over the map. Yeah, I think that is a fair point. If that is the direction they want to go on two picks, it makes sense to slide down.”
The Colts will have their options to work with when they are on the board at No. 21 overall and with the chance of having a solid prospect still be there after a trade down, the likelihood is becoming stronger.
