What the Colts did on Day 2 of the NFL draft
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Indianapolis Colts were back on the clock in Detroit for the second and third rounds of the 2024 NFL Draft on Friday night.
It wouldn’t be a proper Chris Ballard draft without the Colts general manager making moves to trade down, and that’s exactly how he started the second day of the draft. The Colts made a deal with the Panthers to drop down six spots in the second round in exchange for two of the Panthers fifth round picks.
With that move, the Colts selected Texas receiver Adonai Mitchell, who is 6-feet-2-inches tall, 205 pounds, and ran a 4.34 40 yard dash at the NFL Combine.
Ballard got a steal in Mitchell, since the former Longhorn was projected to go in the first round by many mock drafts. He was considered not just one of the best receivers in this year’s class, but one of the best overall players.
Mitchell said “it is what it is” to dropping down to the 52nd overall pick. He’s just ready to get to work in Indy.
“My job now is to make them pay and to bring the best version of me everyday to the Indianapolis Colts, and I’m extremely beyond grateful for the coaches and the organization, the Colts organization, but we got a lot of work to do,” Mitchell said. “We hitting the ground running.”
In a rare move, Ballard traded up in the third round, making a deal with the Cardinals to bounce up to the 15th pick of the round (79th overall). The Colts gave away their sixth round pick to make sure they got former Pittsburgh offensive tackle Matt Goncalves.
The 6-feet 6-inch tall, 327-pound lineman adds depth to the front line and extra protection for Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson.
As of Friday night, the Colts have five picks remaining in the 2024 draft — one in the fourth round (17/117), three in the fifth (7/142, 16/151, 20/155) and one in the seventh (14/234).
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