Indianapolis Colts Opt to Wait Until Day 2 of NFL Draft to Make Pick

Colts general manager Chris Ballard decides against trading back into the first round to make a selection, so he'll be on the clock second in the second round on Friday at No. 34 overall. The Colts also have a second-round selection at 44.

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Colts didn’t sacrifice draft picks to move up into round one in Thursday’s virtual NFL draft.

Colts general manager Chris Ballard, who last month traded his first-round choice at 13th overall for San Francisco All-Pro defensive tackle DeForest Buckner, was content to stand pat.

The Colts are set to be on the clock twice in Friday’s second round, with the second section at No. 34 and then again at No. 44. But Ballard’s draft tendency of trading down in each of his three previous drafts can’t be ignored.

Seven picks in rounds two through six could be augmented with a trade down. Ballard traded out of the first round last year to land Friday’s No. 34 pick from Washington. The Colts selected cornerback Rock-Ya Sin in the second round.

Mock draft suggestions for that first pick mostly focus on wide receiver as the Colts’ No. 1 position of need, although some thought Ballard might trade up into the first round to select Utah State quarterback Jordan Love.

The Green Bay Packers traded up to choose Love with the 26th overall pick.

He wasn’t the only player coming off the board who had been mentioned in mock drafts as possibly falling to the Colts in the second round. Philadelphia took TCU wide receiver Jalen Reagor at 21 and San Francisco traded up to select Arizona State wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk at 25.

That 13th pick traded to the 49ers was dealt to Tampa Bay, who selected Iowa offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs. The Niners were content to move back one spot to draft Buckner’s probable replacement in South Carolina defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw. And the Niners pocketed a fourth-round choice (117th) in exchange for a seventh-round pick (245).

That Ballard has two second-round selections provides some flexibility should he opt to trade down at either spot. Chances are, a deal wouldn’t require backing up out of the round, he could still get a player targeted, and also add another pick in the mid rounds.

Several quality wide receivers in a deep class will be available when the Colts are on the clock.

The Colts have a bit of a selection gap between the third round’s No. 75 and fourth round’s No. 122. They select at No. 160 in round five, then at No. 193 and No. 197 in round six. The latter selection is 30 spots higher than it would have been because Ballard traded center Evan Boehm along with a swap of compensatory choices with Miami before the 2019 season.

The selection process for rounds two and three starts at 7 p.m. Friday (ESPN). The Saturday start time for rounds four through seven is noon (ESPN).