General Manager Ryan Grigson has overseen four drafts for the Colts and the results haven’t been quite as good as the team would have hoped.
The Colts have selected 30 players over that span and the hits -- quarterback Andrew Luck, wide receiver T.Y. Hilton -- have been less frequent than the misses. Those misses include linebacker Bjoern Werner, who was released last month after being a first-round pick in 2013, and the absence of any defensive players picked between 2012 and 2014 on the current roster.
Last season ended with questions about whether Grigson would be retained, something the Colts answered by extending him and coach Chuck Pagano. There’s little doubt that Grigson needs better results in talent acquisition, though, and moving away from free agency increases the importance of the draft. Grigson admitted as much on Wednesday when he said the team has to “really knock this out of the park” next week.
“It’s a little bit different mindset,” Grigson said, via the Indianapolis Star. “We were attacking things before because we were so close [in recent years], I feel like we truly need to have some patience because we don’t have the resources to plug and play. Now it’s about acquiring young players or older players that fit those parameters and that fit the puzzle. Development is a huge key aspect of our teams moving forward.”
Grigson said he liked the depth available on the offensive and defensive lines, two areas of need for the Colts, but said the team wouldn’t shy away from the best player available approach that led them to take wide receiver Phillip Dorsett in the first round last year. Whoever Grigson selects this year will need to do more to make the G.M.'s approach look like the correct one or the calls for someone else to control the process will increase in Indianapolis.
