Colts Select Edge Rusher Bradley Chubb in Mel Kiper’s Mock Draft 1.0

This morning ESPN’s Mel Kiper released his first mock of the 2018 NFL Draft cycle, and has the first two picks as quarterbacks in Josh Allen and Josh Rosen respectively to the Cleveland Browns and New York Giants.

We’ve talked about it before, and we’ll continue to for the next 3 months, but this puts the Indianapolis Colts in a very advantageous position to get exactly what they want out of the No. 3 overall pick. Ideally, most fans prefer for Chris Ballard to trade back and acquire more picks in order to refurbish a depleted roster at some key positions.

However, should they decide to use the third selection for themselves — someone that they see as a can’t-miss talent — it’ll be hard for fans to shun that mindset. You can bet that teams will be ready and willing to move up to get ‘their guy,’ but for the sake of a mock draft going off as presented, Kiper has the Colts selecting edge rusher Bradley Chubb from North Carolina State.

Chubb is one of the most popular selections for the Colts in any mock floating around the web, and his services would be greatly appreciated. Chubb accumulated 128 total tackles, 20 sacks and 44 tackles for loss in his last two seasons at NCSU. Kiper suggests that there isn’t a lineman to take this early on and calls him an “elite pass rusher” and that he “doesn’t take plays off.”

Let’s be honest, regardless of your preference for the Colts first pick in this draft, the needs are deep and if the Colts can get anyone with the word “elite” in front of them when being described, most of us would gladly take that to add to the roster after some disappointing seasons. In the past two seasons the Colts have only racked up 58 sacks with very little pressure being imposed on opposing passers. Just to put that in perspective, 3 teams had 50 or more sacks just this year — we’ll take ‘elite’ at the edge position, and we’ll like it.