There appears to be more and more smoke surrounding the Houston Texans and not taking a quarterback with the No. 2 pick. That could be very good for the Indianapolis Colts.
NFL.com's Bucky Brooks leaned into the narrative that the quarterbacks are being overrated by the media in his latest mock draft. He has just two quarterbacks going in the top 10, with one of them falling all the way to No. 22.
Bryce Young comes off the board first overall, but he has the Texans and Arizona Cardinals taking edge rushers Tyree Wilson and Will Anderson with the second and third pick respectively.
With the Colts on the board at No. 4, Brooks selects Ohio State's C.J. Stroud over Kentucky's Will Levis and Florida's Anthony Richardson.
The former Buckeye steps into the QB1 role, giving the Colts the franchise quarterback they’ve been missing since Andrew Luck’s unexpected retirement. -- Bucky Brooks, NFL.com
Brooks doesn't go into a lot of detail on why Stroud over Levis. Levis has been linked heavily with the Colts the last several weeks. But was some of that speculation generated because it was assumed Stroud would be gone by No. 4?
While he didn't go into detail why Stroud would go to the Colts, the rest of the picks make it fairly obvious he thinks Stroud is a much better prospect.
Brooks has Levis going to the Texans at No. 12, and Anthony Richardson falls all the way to the Baltimore Ravens at No. 22.
The Texans coming out of the draft with Wilson and Levis might seem like a dream come true for new-coach Demeco Ryans.
It would be surprising if all-four quarterbacks lasted that far beyond the top-10 picks. If the quarterbacks slide beyond No. 7, expect some teams to start thinking about trading up.
Getting the second pick of the quarterbacks would also be an ideal scenario for the Colts who have done a good job of being patient through this process.
Would the Colts take Stroud over Levis?
General manager Chris Ballard and new-head coach Shane Steichen would love to have that choice on Thursday night.
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