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It's Monday, and that means that it's time to take a look at the weekly mock draft released by SB Nation's Dan Kadar.
After having the Colts address their defense in the first round in the past few weeks, Kadar is back to having Indianapolis bolster their offensive line with the 18th overall pick by taking Michigan State offensive tackle Jack Conklin.
Indianapolis has drafted five offensive linemen in the last three years, but none before the end of the second round. It shows in how the Colts have struggled to protect quarterback Andrew Luck. Conklin could play a number of positions on the Colts' offensive line. Adding him would bolster the talent up front and let Luck finally become the quarterback everyone expects him to be.
Conklin has been a popular pick for the Colts, and in fact, SB Nation's Adam Stites found that Conklin has been the most commonly projected player to the Colts so far through the mock draft process, with 27.9% of the mock drafts he looked at having the Colts take Conklin.
A 6-6, 325 pound lineman, Conklin started 38 career games at Michigan State before deciding to forgo his senior season to enter the 2016 NFL Draft. In 2015, he was named a first-team All-American by a number of outlets, as he started 12 games and helped Michigan State to a playoff berth. During his time with the Spartans, Conklin made 35 starts at left tackle and three at right tackle, though he projects to be able to play either spot in the NFL. With the Colts, he would very likely play right tackle, as Anthony Castonzo is already in place at left tackle and just signed an extension last offseason.
The biggest thing the Colts need along their offensive line is more top-level talent, and Conklin has the potential to develop into a nice building block along the line in addition to Castonzo and Jack Mewhort. Tackle isn't the biggest need that the team has, but it wouldn't hurt them if they were to add a tackle like Conklin in the first round either.