INDIANAPOLIS – Not having the normal Chris Ballard abundance of draft capital, the Colts stood and watched as their most pressing need saw player after player come off the board.
In the 15 picks before the Colts got on the clock at No. 54 overall on Friday night, five offensive tackles were chosen (Teven Jenkins, Liam Eichenberg, Walker Little, Sam Cosmi, Dillon Radunz).
Had one of them fallen all the way to the Colts at No. 54, it doesn’t sound like that pick would have been made.
Vanderbilt defensive lineman Dayo Odeyingbo is someone the Colts had pegged as a first rounder before he tore his Achilles in January.
Despite that injury, the Colts still had him ranked very high on their draft board, above any of those offensive tackles.
“To be honest with you, we had Dayo ranked higher,” Ballard said of the tackles that came off the board leading into the Colts’ second-round selection on Friday night.
“You can’t force (the left tackle pick). We’ve got time. We still have four more draft picks (on Saturday) and then we’ve got until September, so we’ll continue to work through it.”
Ballard did say on Friday that the Colts are planning to keep Quenton Nelson at left guard and Braden Smith at right tackle.
Playing the musical chair game with their 4 returning offensive linemen isn’t happening, and that’s something Jim Irsay has hinted at.
“Right now, we would probably leave the four guys alone (LG-Quenton Nelson, C-Ryan Kelly, RG-Mark Glowinski, RT-Braden Smith),” Ballard said. “They have all produced at a really high level and then we’ll work from there.”
Asked on Friday if Ballard felt the team’s starter at left tackle was already on the roster, the GM didn’t commit to that.
“We’ve got a couple of young men that have played a lot of football in this league (Sam Tevi and Julie’n Davenport),” the GM said “Tevi has played a lot football and he’s played winning football. So we’ll see as we go forward. We’ll create competition and we’ll continue to look at the market, continue to look at the draft and continue to create competition and we’ll get the best five guys on the field that will play winning football.”
If the Colts are prepared to keep Nelson and Smith in their entrenched spots, then other in-house options at left tackle include Tevi (25 starts with the Chargers the last 4 years), Davenport (28 starts in Houston and Miami the last 4 years) and Will Holden (8 career starts, including 1 for Indy last season).
There are some free agents, north of 30 years old, still out on the open market, if Ballard wants to add another body to his O-line room.
And the GM mentioned that the Colts still like a few guys remaining on the board heading into the final day of the draft.
“Finding a left tackle is not the easiest position to find,” Ballard said on Friday. “There were a lot of really good (draftees) on the offensive line, and there still is, guys that will start in the league. But specifically, a left tackle, we’ll see. Sometimes you need a little luck after the second and third round.”
With the month of May now here, the search for Anthony Castonzo’s replacement continues.
