When you have to wait 26 picks to make your first pick of the draft, it's hard to sort out all the possible scenarios. A draft board is the best way to collect my thoughts on a pick this far back in the draft.
I'm going to cheat a little and only rank RBs, WRs, OTs, DTs, LBs and CBs. If a player at another position drops far enough I'm sure Indy would grab the value, but it's a safe bet that Indy's 1st round pick will come at one of those six positions
Jump for the draft board that would be hanging in the war room if Indy had the misfortune of me GMing.
| Tier 1: | Consensus Top 5'ers | |||
| # | Prospect | Position | College | Comments |
| 1 | Aaron Curry | OLB | Wake Forest | A top prospect coming out of the season who lit it up in workouts. |
| 2 | Jason Smith | OT | Baylor | Top of a loaded Tackle Class |
| 3 | Eugene Monroe | OT | Virgina | Virgina just keeps churning out elite LT prospects |
| 4 | Micheal Crabtree | WR | Texas Tech | Do you really need a 40 time for a player that showed that much ability on the field? |
| Tier 2: | Elite Prospects | |||
| 5 | Malcolm Jenkins | CB | Ohio State | Jenkins' stock suffered from a slow 40, but guess who loves talented CB's without elite speed? |
| 6 | B.J. Raji | DT | Boston College | Massive, but still quick and disruptive. |
| 7 | Micheal Oher | OT | Mississippi | All the tools, but inconsistent. Slide Ugoh to RT and have the complete set. |
| 8 | Jeremy Maclin | WR | Missouri | Has to adjust to a NFL style offense, but seems the best equipped of the top WRs to do so with the only Wonderlic score over 15 of the 1st round WRs (25) |
| 9 | Rey Maualuga | LB | USC | Athletic run stopper. Not a guy in the Colts' mold, but he wouldn't not fit. |
| Tier 3: | I WANT HIM! | I WANT HIM! | I WANT HIM! | (and might get him) |
| 10 | Peria Jerry | DT | Mississippi | I know Ziggy has gained a lot of converts, but Jerry is still the player I'm hoping for. |
| 11 | Evander "Ziggy" Hood | DT | Missouri | Doesn't have Jerry's burst, but is significantly younger and could add weight, which Jerry likely can't |
| 12 | Hakeem Nicks | WR | UNC | The weight bounce between the Combine and Pro Day is concerning, but he's reportedly cut most of it already. |
| 13 | Eben Britton | OT | Arizona | The first OT who could realistically drop to Indy. |
| 14 | Knowshon Moreno | RB | Georgia | Only first round back who can block, catch AND hold on to the football |
| Tier 4: | Talented Character Risks | |||
| 15 | Vontae Davis | CB | Illinois | Played in a cover 2, but has man coverage athleticism. Physical, hard hitter. Commitment and heart have been questioned. |
| 16 | Andre Smith | OT | Alabama |
A mauling run blocker, who may or may not be quick enough to stay at LT. Weight and maturity issues. Has breasts. |
| Tier 5: | Great Player, Poor Fit | |||
| 17 | Brian Cushing | LB | USC | A pass rusher and run stopper who was often pulled off the field when coverage was needed. |
| 18 | Percy Harvin | WR | Florida | Colts WRs are accomplished route runners. Harvin is an athlete that needs to learn to run NFL routes. |
| 19 | Darius Heyward-Bey | WR | Maryland | Bey shot up the boards with a blazing 40, but he's not a good route runner. |
| 20 | LeSean "Shady" McCoy | RB | Pittsburgh | An excellent receiving back, talented and productive runner. Fumbling issues put him outside the Colts RB profile. |
| 21 | Sean Smith | CB/FS | Utah | Big, physical DB who seems to have the athleticism to CB in the Pros. Unfortunately he's a great man CB, who has struggled in zone. |
| 22 | Chris Wells | RB | OSU | Backs that can't block or catch don't have a place in Indy no matter how good they are at the other stuff. |
| Tier 6: | Consolation Prizes | |||
| 23 | Kenny Britt | WR | Rutgers | More potential than Nicks, but a less polished receiver. Nick's weight questions have closed up some of the risk gap between the two. |
| 24 | Phil Loadholt | RT | Oklahoma | Might not be quick enough to pass protect even moving to the right side, but he's a dominating run blocker who was a college LT. |
| 25 | Duke Robinson | G/RT | Oklahoma | Indy has a good number of guards, but Lilja is a question mark, Pollak isn't guaranteed to work out and Duke might be able to play RT. |
| 26 | James Laurinaitis | LB | OSU | Limited ceiling, may not be athletic enough, Indy hasn't drafted LBs early since the Tampa-2 was installed. |
| 27 | Alphonso Smith | CB | Wake Forrest | Good Zone corner, scouting reports eerily Tim Jennings-esque |
| 28 | Darius Butler | CB | UConn | Another zone CB, bigger than Smith, but less athletic. |
| 29 | William Beatty | OT | UConn | Some places put him at the back of the 1st OT tier, others have him as the start of the next step down. |
| 30 | D.J. Moore | CB | Vanderbilt | More zone CBs |
Remember I excluded all QBs, TEs, OGs, OCs, DEs and Safeties. Even without all those players (who are 10 of Mocking Dan's top 32) I managed to come up with 30 players who I would be somewhere between ecstatic and understanding of as Indy's first round pick.
The floor is now open for criticisms.