Though the season has just begun, there are still plenty of eyes on the 2021 NFL Draft and one of the top quarterback prospects to come out in years in the form of Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence.
After signing veteran Philip Rivers to a one-year deal in free agency and then using a fourth-round pick on Jacob Eason in the 2020 draft, the need for a Lawrence-type caliber is pretty high for Indy.
Our friends over at Draft Wire ranked each team’s need for the Clemson signal-caller. The Colts came in as the second-most needy team. Here’s what they said:
Philip Rivers will turn 39 later this year, and he’s only on a one-year deal. Jacoby Brissett is a solid backup, but isn’t a long-term solution for the Colts as a starter. Even if Rivers were to return for another season, Lawrence would immediately be the best quarterback on this roster.
Most teams could be considered as having a need for the potential franchise talent of Lawrence. But the Colts have a very questionable future under center even with Eason showing some promise during training camp.
The Colts likely won’t get the chance to draft Lawrence in 2021. Unless they give up a major package to trade up to the No. 1 overall pick, they are too good to finish that high in the draft order. And since we know that Chris Ballard prefers to add picks rather than trade them away, it makes most of this moot.
But it does bring up a point that the Colts still need to figure out their future at quarterback. Rivers is likely playing a maximum of one more season so some important decisions will be made this offseason.
