Pick 34 would be a nice future investment assuming the knee looks like it can be repaired easily enough. Doubt anyone will spend a 1 on a guy that can't play this year.

I could see one scenario in which he still goes in the first. You need to remember that First Round contracts have the fifth year team option so a team may want to draft him in the First Round to gain that extra year of contract control. One such team could be the Raiders. They currently have first round picks 4, 24, and 27. They could even trade down a few spots from 27 and pick up more draft capital. It looks like they may be playing next year in Oakland again....and they have shown that they don't care what type of product they put on the field for the near term - although they will want to field a talented team for their debut in Vegas.

I personally wouldn't use Pick 34. The Colts window is now and they need lots of help on defense right now. He probably won't play his rookie season. He will probably play his second season - but maybe not at 100%. FatDT's write-up indicated that he relies mostly on an explosive first step - that may be gone after the injury. It is worth monitoring to see how far down he slides and may be worth it later on, but hope the Colts look elsewhere at Pick 34.

In my initial write-up I barely mentioned the 2016 incident w/hitting a woman.

Here is a better description:
The video looks bad. It was 2-3 years ago, in 2016. Supposedly he was "defending his sister" but rapid-fire punches from a 300+ lb. man to a woman laying in the street, no that goes beyond defense. Worse than the Kareem Hunt video IMO.

Holder gave a radio interview today and one thing stuck out: he said he doesn’t think the front office is too concerned with WR. I’m starting to think Ballard will double dip at 26 and 34 with the two best EDGE & DT he can get. That fits with his MO based on last draft and his stated desire to improve the lines and pass rush. I would guess they grab a WR at some point in the middle rounds rather than use up a top pick at the position.

draft and free agency
 

Colts hit a grand slam with last years draft. I don't see lightning striking twice and they need to pursue some free agents. Need a pass rusher and a playmaker- whether its another RB or WR.

Which is what they should do. The DL needs improvements much more, and it's much more difficult to find good pass rushers than it is to find a good WR2 or WR3. And, provided they resign Inman, I'm not terribly concerned about the position considering WR2 could be made the fourth or fifth option on this team in any given game. Resigning Inman and bringing in a couple Day 3 guys to compete should be sufficient for the position. That said, I wouldn't be opposed to signing Tyrell Williams or Golden Tate.

Welcome, btw...

I'm not sure I want to spend draft or FA capital on a RB. I want to see Mack and our OL continue to improve and shore up EDGE and DL. We were 25th against the rush this year, 17th against the pass.

Yes those stats reflect 5 really crappy games, and in the last half of the season we were much better, but EDGE and DL are the only positions where we can address both these needs.

Meanwhile we are 6th best passing and 20th rushing. I think our rushing rank is pulled down by the fact that it took us 6 games to figure ourselves out. Once we did, I feel like we are probably in the top 15 rushing.

Golden Tate is intriguing.... he's on the wrong side of 30 though.

This. We need playmakers on offense. It doesn't matter where they play (except of course quarterback) Keep this offensive line dominant. Just one more exceptional player on offense, even with average guys at the other skill positions we have a great offense, certainly one good enough.

Stopgap signing. Get some mid round picks in to compete with Cain and Fountain and keep the best 5-6.