The Indianapolis Colts were able Tyler Warren in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft, but what comes next?
Now, they head into day two, where they own their second and third round selections. The tight end has obviously been taken care of, but the team still needs to address multiple positions.
Colts’ biggest remaining needs heading into Day 2 of the 2025 NFL Draft
Defensive Line:
The Colts have a major need to add defensive linemen throughout the rest of the draft. The team only has one edge rusher currently under contract past the 2025 season (Laiatu Latu). But they have also needed to find a backup nose tackle for quite some time. I would expect to see the Colts use one of their day two picks to add an edge rusher, and I would assume we see a defensive tackle added sometime on day three.
Offensive Line:
The Colts lost starting center Ryan Kelly and starting guard Will Fries in free agency. The team has a plan at center with Tanor Bortolini expected to take over, but their situation at guard is a bit more murky. The team has Matt Gonclaves, who has the ability to play guard when needed, though his natural position is at tackle. If the Colts want to find a viable option to compete as a starter during his rookie year, you would assume they would look at guards during day two. After guard, the team is also likely to add a day three tackle that can compete with Blake Freeland and Matt Goncalves (if he doesn’t win the starting guard job) for the team’s swing tackle position.
Linebackers:
The Colts lost a ton of snaps at linebacker this offseason with Grant Stauard and EJ Speed leaving in free agency. Linebacker has been a position Chris Ballard has had solid success drafting on day three. Though some solid options are still on the board, they could be day-one starters and possibly even be a fit to wear the green dot in Lou Anarumo’s defense. It will be interesting to see how the Colts handle this position the rest of the weekend.
Running Backs:
The Colts have their starting RB in Jonathan Taylor, but they have no viable backup currently on the roster. The team tried to roll with Trey Sermon as the main reserve, and they found out quickly it wasn’t going to work. Taylor struggles as a blocker, which led Sermon to see extended time late in games. But he didn’t spark any fear in the defense when they would hand the ball off, and he would have to run between the tackles. This RB class is stacked and has multiple options that could be a great fit to back up Taylor. And if the team is willing to target the position in either the third or the fourth, there are even some options that have the potential to develop into an eventual three-down starter, which could come in handy after Taylor’s current contract ends.