The Indianapolis Colts have less than a week to finalize their big board ahead of the 2024 NFL Draft, and it sounds like they have an idea of how many prospects belong in the first round.
Teams typically don’t have a full list of 32 prospects worthy of first-round grades, but the number they do have can give an idea of how strong the top of the class is. Without getting into specifics, general manager Chris Ballard mentioned how many they have in 2024.
“I want to say that we had 19-21, right in that area,” Ballard told reporters Friday.
While it differs from team to team, that bodes well for the Colts, who sit at the No. 15 overall pick. They likely will have some players on their board worthy of first-round picks that other teams don’t.
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That may help them in the event of a potential trade back, which is always possible for Ballard. There also has been chatter of a potential trade-up depending on what the board looks like, but that scenario is far less likely.
In terms of the top of the board, Ballard feels as though it’s a strong offensive draft.
“I will say this, I do think you’re going to see a lot of offensive players taken early in the first round. It’s a, I’m not saying it’s a weak defensive draft but, but it’s a really strong offensive draft, especially at the top of it,” said Ballard.
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Going into his eighth draft running the Colts’ day-to-day moves, Ballard also believes there’s strength at a few other positions.
“I think there’s a few positions that has got some real depth, like the o-line. The o-line in this (NFL) Draft is really excellent, and there’s depth throughout. I truly believe you’re going to get a really good player in those mid rounds and even some later because of the depth of the group. Wideout is very similar, it is excellent. Those two position groups stand out, they’re both really good.”
The Colts have several ways they can go in the first round of the draft, and we only have a few days left of speculating before the analysis begins.
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