Mike Mayock's NFL Draft Rankings at the Colts Positions of Need

NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock released his updated position rankings for the 2015 NFL Draft, and the rankings have drawn quite a bit of attention due to the fact that he has Marcus Mariota as the number one quarterback in the draft again.

But what about for the Colts?  They're not in the market for a quarterback early in the draft, so the quarterback rankings don't really apply to them.  But the Colts have a number of other needs, so let's take a look at Mayock's position rankingsfor some of the positions that the Colts might actually target in the first round.  Now, obviously, some of these positions are bigger needs than others (for example, I'm not advocating for a running back or an offensive lineman in the first round, just simply acknowledging that it could be considered a need), but we'll list them all here regardless of how big of a need it is.  Here are Mayock's rankings:

Running Back:

1. Melvin Gordon, Wisconsin 
2. Todd Gurley, Georgia 
3. Ameer Abdullah, Nebraska 
4. Duke Johnson, Miami (Fla.) 
5. Tevin Coleman, Indiana

Offensive Line:

Interior offensive linemen
1. Brandon Scherff, Iowa 
2. Cameron Erving, Florida State 
3. Laken Tomlinson, Duke 
4. A.J. Cann, South Carolina 
5. Tre' Jackson, Florida State

Offensive tackle

1. La'el Collins, LSU 
2. Ereck Flowers, Miami (Fla.) 
3. D.J. Humphries, Florida 
4. Andrus Peat, Stanford 
T-5. T.J. Clemmings, Pittsburgh 
T-5. Cedric Ogbuehi, Texas A&M

Defensive Line:

1. Leonard Williams, USC 
2. Arik Armstead, Oregon 
3. Malcom Brown, Texas 
4. Danny Shelton, Washington 
T-5. Eddie Goldman, Florida State 
T-5. Jordan Phillips, Oklahoma

Pass Rusher:

1. Dante Fowler, Jr., Florida 
2. Randy Gregory, Nebraska 
3. Vic Beasley, Clemson 
4. Bud Dupree, Kentucky 
5. Shane Ray, Missouri

Linebacker:

1. Paul Dawson, TCU 
2. Eric Kendricks, UCLA 
3. Stephone Anthony, Clemson 
4. Denzel Perryman, Miami (Fla.) 
5. Benardrick McKinney, Mississippi State

Safety:

1. Landon Collins, Alabama 
2. Shaq Thompson, Washington 
3. Damarious Randall, Arizona State 
4. Quinten Rollins, Miami (Ohio) 
5. Alex Carter, Stanford

Mayock's rankings give us an indication of how the talent is at the top of each position, and this can give us a better idea as to who might be there for the Colts at pick number 29 overall.  I think I have been pretty clear over the past few months that I think the Colts need to target a defensive player in the first round, and there will certainly be intriguing options on that side of the football in the first round.  In fact, a number of these players that appear in Mayock's top-five rankings will still be available.  The question simply becomes who the Colts like and what they think is the best value at the pick.

Obviously, opinions on prospects vary greatly and change.  This can be evidenced in the quarterback situation - most other analysts have Jameis Winston number one, but Mayock now has Marcus Mariota number one again.  And we've seen the progression go from Mariota the clear number one to Winston the clear number one to now Mariota appearing at number one again, at least on Mayock's big board.  So here's the bottom line: these rankings aren't perfect and they still could change in the coming weeks leading up to the draft.  But it's at least interesting to look at and to get a feel for who some of the best players available are at the positions that the Colts might be targeting when the first round arrives three weeks from tonight.