The Indianapolis Colts have only made the playoffs twice over the past seven seasons. During that time they’ve gone 45-52-1. This last season is easily the worst during that stretch. And now they have consecutive seasons without a playoff appearance.
The Colts made some moves to improve this past season but still couldn’t avoid a 4-12-1 finish. They fired offensive coordinator Marcus Brady on Nov. 1 and then head coach Frank Reich on Nov. 7. They played all three of their rostered quarterbacks. The franchise is in desperate need of a reset.
With the 2022 NFL Draft, Colts GM Chris Ballard fixed the hole at left tackle with the selection of Bernhard Raimann. It also appears that Ballard may finally have acquired a second wide receiver to pair with Michael Pittman Jr. in Parris Campbell. But Campbell is set to become a free agent.
Meanwhile, rookie wide receiver Alec Pierce flashed some potential at times but his first season was inconsistent. And after those three, the rest of the wide receiver depth chart is easily replaceable players.
With that said, let’s take a look at five potential wide receivers options for the Colts in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Jalin Hyatt, WR, Tennessee
Jalin Hyatt is arguably the second-best wide receiver in this year’s draft class. Coming in at 6-foot, 180 pounds he has decent size. He is also considered the best deep threat in this year’s class. And when you watch his highlights, this aspect shows up repeatedly.
Unfortunately, this leads some to think that Hyatt may be just a one-trick pony and will take some more time to develop. Some other concerns are that he only had one season of elite production in college. The other years were nothing special as he failed to crack 300 yards receiving either year. He also needs to get better at feeling the holes in zone coverage and show that he can win at press coverage. He played a lot of time in the slot.
Despite these flaws, he has the high-end speed to eat up cushions in coverage, excellent run-after-the-catch ability and is able to create separation. At the college level, he was dominant and forced opposing teams to double him if they wanted to stop him. He has long arms which obviously helps him catch more passes but also creates a bigger catch radius. This feature also makes him play bigger than he is.
Josh Downs, WR, North Carolina
Josh Downs is the first of three wide receivers that project more favorably at the NFL level as a slot receiver. Listed at 5-foot-10 and 180 pounds Downs is a small wide receiver. Despite his size, he has shown some high-level production even dating back to high school.
In his career, he has two seasons with at least 1,000 receiving yards — twice in high school and two more in college. Specifically, in his last two college years, he did this with Sam Howell and Drake Maye, showing that his stats weren’t just a product of one quarterback.
Downs has elite straight-line speed, with some projecting his 40-yard dash time to be in the 4.3 range. Not only does he have elite speed he can quickly get up to his top-end speed and he pairs it with some strong vertical jumping ability. He also comes with an advanced route tree and the ability to make his quarterback look better due to his great ability to make adjustments.
Unfortunately, his size pegs him as being only a slot receiver at the next level. He doesn’t have the strongest hands, likes to use strength in fighting cornerbacks at the line of scrimmage instead of utilizing his speed, and very much struggles at press coverage. However, there is hope as he draws comparisons to Rondale Moore and Tyler Lockett. Also, some of his flaws are ones that good coaching can get fixed.
Jordan Addison, WR, USC
Jordan Addison may end up being one of the more divisive wide receivers in this year’s draft class. Depending on who you ask he could be an NFL team’s No. 1 receiver or a slot guy. Listed at a 6-foot, 175 pounds he is a bit on the small size. Add in his collegiate production and you get a better context as to why there is some volatility to his scouting.
Addison played two years at Pitt before transferring to USC for his final season. Addison’s last season at Pitt was his best and coincided with the best season from former Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett. At Pitt, Addison caught 100 passes for 1,593 yards (15.9 avg) and 17 touchdowns. He then transferred to USC and played with Caleb Williams, where Addison caught 59 passes for 875 yards (14.8 avg) and 8 touchdowns.
The lack of production from playing with an arguably better quarterback is perplexing. Regardless, Addison has great deep speed and cutting ability. He does a very nice job of getting separation, finding holes in coverage and using his strong hands to catch deep passes or tough ones over the middle.
However, he does show a lot of concentration drops, which is surprising for someone of his ability and pedigree. He has drawn comparisons to former Heisman Trophy winner Devonta Smith. Just like with Smith, there are questions about Addison’s ability to win on the outside at the NFL level.
Zay Flowers, WR, Boston College
Zay Flowers played all four years at Boston College. In 48 games he caught 200 passes for 3,056 yards (15.3 yards per catch) and 29 touchdowns. He also rushed 57 times for 345 yards (6.1 yards per rush) and two touchdowns. His best season was his senior year, when he caught 78 passes for 1,077 yards (13.8 yards per catch) and 12 touchdowns.
He’s listed at 5-foot-10, 172 pounds. However, scouts rave about his shiftiness and suddenness. And when watching his tape you get a little bit of Barry Sanders reminder from him. He is a yards-after-the-catch monster as he led the ACC with 503 yards-after-the-catch last season. And another thing that works in his favor is his ability to work outside the numbers and his field awareness. He is able to track the ball very well and give his quarterback ample room to complete passes between the numbers and the sideline.
Again, his size is one of the biggest knocks on him and why he is likely to see a lot of his NFL playing time from the slot. There could be some teams that don’t care about his size and care more about his production. And thus view him as a number one receiver on a team. But his tape shows that he doesn’t consistently win on the outside and is much better working in the middle of the field.
Charlie Jones, WR, Purdue
Charlie Jones is probably the least recognizable name on this list. That is unless you’re a Purdue fan or alumni or a Big Ten fan.
The 6-foot, 188-pound wide receiver racked up a lot of travel miles during his time in college. He played in 12 games as a freshman for Buffalo where he caught 18 passes for 395 yards (21.9 yards per catch) and three touchdowns.
He transferred to Iowa where he played his sophomore and junior seasons. There he played in a total of 21 games catching 21 passes for 323 yards (15.4 yards per catch) and three touchdowns, again. Then he transferred to Purdue for his senior season where he broke out in a major way. Playing in 13 games, he caught 110 passes for 1,361 yards (12.4 yards per catch) and 12 touchdowns.
Jones profiles a little bit more as a possession or possibly a big slot receiver at the NFL level. He doesn’t create a lot of separation or has top-end speed to take the roof off the defense. He does excel with the run-after-the-catch ability and has reliable hands. Both of these traits will serve him well when running over the middle of the field. He will need to get better at sitting down in zone coverage. This should get better with NFL coaching.