Colts Select Quarterback Sam Ehlinger With the 218th Overall Pick in the 2021 NFL Draft

With their third draft pick on day 3 of the 2021 NFL Draft the Indianapolis Colts went and selected a offensive player in Quarterback Sam Ehlinger with the 218th overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft.

Ehlinger, 6’1” 220 lbs, started 43 games for Texas between 2017-2020. He threw for 11,436 yards and completed 62.5 percent of his passes with 94 touchdowns and 27 interceptions. Ehlinger also rushed 554 times for 1,907 yards with 33 touchdowns.

Here’s Ehlinger’s draft profile from NFL.com:

Lance Zierlien: “Highly touted dual-threat quarterback from the Austin area who put together four solid but somewhat unspectacular years at Texas. They don’t come much tougher than Ehlinger at the position, and his intangibles are as good as you could ask for. He’s a very average passer, but can deliver most throws with good enough accuracy and velocity to hit the open target. He doesn’t have a plus arm and could struggle to fit throws into tight windows or make big completions throwing on the move. His deep ball accuracy is a step below average but he’s fairly effective throwing with anticipation on intermediate routes. He’s not an explosive runner, although he gets tough yards on a consistent basis as a scrambler and on called runs. His 2019 tape is a better study of his potential, but career backup looks like his ceiling.”

Here’s what others are saying:

The Indianapolis Colts were originally scheduled to select with the 206th overall pick in the draft to the New Orleans Saints for the 218th overall pick and the 229th overall draft pick.

To me, Ehlinger seems like a high character dual threat quarterback who has a chance to be a 3rd string quarterback for the Colts this year. Ehlinger is most likely stashed on the practice squad to help keep him around the team. Colts GM Chris Ballard preaches competition and this pick screams that, the Colts have their starter in Carson Wentz but Ehlinger is brought in to provide competition to the back up quarterback position.

This pick doesn’t make a ton of sense due to the Jacob already on the depth chart. Ehlinger should battle with Eason to be the primary quarterback depth man. The Colts are still yet to draft a other more glaring needs so drafting a quarterback may shock a few.