The Indianapolis Colts drafted UCLA edge rusher Laiatu Latu with the 15th pick in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft . But before they turned in that card, they had their eyes on moving into the top 10.
The newest episode of this year's offseason Hard Knocks series, which follows the New York Giants, showed Colts GM Chris Ballard on the phone attempting to trade up with the Giants for the sixth overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Giants GM Joe Schoen shares with his draft room that the Colts' trade offer included pick 15 in the first round and their second-round picks in 2024 and 2025. But after getting off the phone, Schoen made it clear to his draft room that he didn't have much interest in moving back as far as pick 15.
This video confirms what Ballard shared with the media following the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft. He said the team had made some aggressive calls attempting to move up in the draft, and he hinted that an offensive playmaker was their target.
Who would the Colts have drafted?
The Colts were connected to nearly all the top pass catchers in the 2024 NFL Draft class, including Marvin Harrison Jr., Malik Nabers , Rome Odunze, and Brock Bowers.
By the time the Giants were on the clock, Harrison Jr. was the only pass catcher on the board. This leaves multiple plausible targets that the Colts could have traded up for. However, I have a strong inclination that the player the Colts were targeting is Washington WR Rome Odunze, who ended up drafted ninth to the Chicago Bears.
If you asked me how I believe the Colts ranked the top WRs in this class, I would say Harrison Jr. was their top option, with Odunze second and Nabers third. I've already gotten plenty of pushback online for believing this, with many fans believing LSU WR Nabers would have been the Colts' target. While I think Nabers is going to be a special player in the NFL, I strongly believe Odunze was the team's trade-up target.
Oduzne's combination of size (Just under 6'3", 212 lbs) and speed (4.43 40-yard dash) is a perfect fit for the type of WRs the Colts have typically targeted in the draft with Ballard as their GM. Pair this with Oduzne's strong character being praised multiple times throughout the draft process, and he seems like the exact type of player the Colts label a "blue chip prospect." I was also told during the draft process that Odunze impressed multiple members of the Colts brass during his meeting with the team at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine. Interestingly enough, NFL insider Ian Rapoport mentioned the Colts as a team to watch for in a potential trade-up for Oduzne .
In the end, the Colts were not able to strike a deal on a trade-up, and we may never know for sure who they would have drafted if they had been successful. Instead, they stayed put and landed their best pass rusher and overall defender in the draft class in Laiatu Latu, and they used their second-round pick on WR Adonai Mitchell. We will have to wait and see how this plays out, but if both Latu and Mitchell end up being key contributors for the Colts for the foreseeable future, I don't think anyone will be thinking about the potential trade-up they missed out on.
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