List of Indianapolis Colts first-round draft picks

Peyton Manning, first overall pick of the 1998 draft

The Baltimore Colts joined the National Football League (NFL) in 1953 where they participated in their first NFL draft and selected Billy Vessels, a halfback from the University of Oklahoma. The team's most recent first-round selection was Laiatu Latu, a defensive end from UCLA in the 2024 NFL draft.

Every year during April, each NFL franchise seeks to add new players to its roster through a collegiate draft officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting but more commonly known as the NFL Draft. Teams are ranked in inverse order based on the previous season's record, with the worst record picking first, and the second worst picking second and so on. The two exceptions to this order are made for teams that appeared in the previous Super Bowl; the Super Bowl champion always picks last, and the Super Bowl loser always picks second last. Teams have the option of trading away their picks to other teams for different picks, players, cash, or a combination thereof. Thus, it is not uncommon for a team's actual draft pick to differ from their assigned draft pick, or for a team to have extra or no draft picks in any round due to these trades.[1]

The Colts have selected the number one overall pick in the draft on seven separate occasions, one of which was used to select Super Bowl XLI MVP Peyton Manning. They have also selected the second overall pick five times and the third overall pick twice. The team's five selections from Ohio State University are the most chosen by the Colts from one university.

Key

Table key
^ Indicates the player was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
 *  Selected number one overall
† Indicates the player was selected for the Pro Bowl at any time in their career.
— The Colts did not draft a player in the first round that year.
Year Each year links to an article about that particular NFL Draft.
Pick Indicates the number of the pick within the first round
Position Indicates the position of the player in the NFL
College The player's college football team

Player selections

2003 Colts 1st round pick Dallas Clark
2002 Colts 1st round pick Dwight Freeney in the Pro Bowl
1996 Colts 1st round pick Marvin Harrison
2001 Colts 1st round pick Reggie Wayne
Indianapolis Colts first-round draft picks
Year Pick Player name Position College Notes
1953 2 Billy Vessels HB Oklahoma
1954 5 Cotton Davidson QB Baylor
1955 1 * George Shaw QB Oregon [2]
3 Alan Ameche † FB Wisconsin
1956 9 Lenny Moore ^ HB Penn State
1957 8 Jim Parker ^ G Ohio State
1958 11 Lenny Lyles † CB Louisville
1959 12 Jackie Burkett C Auburn
1960 10 Ron Mix ^ OT USC
1961 7 Tom Matte † RB Ohio State
1962 9 Wendell Harris CB Louisiana State
1963 5 Bob Vogel † OT Ohio State
1964 8 Marv Woodson † S Indiana
1965 14 Mike Curtis † LB Duke
1966 15 Sam Ball OT Kentucky
1967 1 * Bubba Smith † DE Michigan State [3]
20 Jim Detwiler HB Michigan
1968 23 John Williams OT Minnesota
1969 25 Eddie Hinton WR Oklahoma
1970 18 Norm Bulaich † RB Texas Christian
1971 22 Don McCauley RB North Carolina [4]
26 Leonard Dunlap CB North Texas
1972 22 Tom Drougas OT Oregon
1973 2 Bert Jones † QB Louisiana State [5]
10 Joe Ehrmann † DT Syracuse
1974 5 John Dutton † DT Nebraska
24 Roger Carr † WR Louisiana Tech [6]
1975 3 Ken Huff G North Carolina [7]
1976 20 Ken Novak DT Purdue
1977 26 Randy Burke WR Kentucky
1978 25 Reese McCall TE Auburn
1979 6 Barry Krauss LB Alabama
1980 5 Curtis Dickey RB Texas A&M
24 Derrick Hatchett CB Texas [8]
1981 12 Randy McMillan RB Pittsburgh
18 Donnell Thompson DE North Carolina [9]
1982 2 Johnie Cooks LB Mississippi State
4 Art Schlichter QB Ohio State [10]
1983 1 * John Elway ^ QB Stanford [11]
1984 8 Leonard Coleman CB Vanderbilt
19 Ron Solt † G Maryland [12]
1985 5 Duane Bickett † LB USC
1986 4 Jon Hand DE Alabama
1987 2 Cornelius Bennett † LB Alabama
1988 — — No Pick — — [13]
1989 22 Andre Rison † WR Michigan State
1990 1 * Jeff George QB Illinois
1991 — — No Pick — — [14]
1992 1 * Steve Emtman DE Washington
2 Quentin Coryatt LB Texas A&M [15]
1993 16 Sean Dawkins WR California
1994 2 Marshall Faulk ^ RB San Diego State
5 Trev Alberts LB Nebraska [16]
1995 15 Ellis Johnson DT Florida
1996 19 Marvin Harrison ^ WR Syracuse
1997 19 Tarik Glenn † OT California
1998 1 * Peyton Manning ^ QB Tennessee
1999 4 Edgerrin James ^ RB Miami (FL)
2000 28 Rob Morris LB BYU
2001 30 Reggie Wayne † WR Miami (FL)
2002 11 Dwight Freeney † DE Syracuse
2003 24 Dallas Clark † TE Iowa
2004 No pick (traded to Atlanta Falcons, used to select Michael Jenkins) [17]
2005 29 Marlin Jackson CB Michigan
2006 30 Joseph Addai † RB LSU
2007 32 Anthony Gonzalez WR Ohio State
2008 No pick (traded to San Francisco 49ers, used to select Kentwan Balmer) [18]
2009 27 Donald Brown RB Connecticut
2010 31 Jerry Hughes DE TCU
2011 22 Anthony Castonzo OT Boston College
2012 1 * Andrew Luck † QB Stanford
2013 24 Björn Werner DE Florida State
2014 No pick (traded to Cleveland Browns, who then traded it to Philadelphia Eagles, used to select Marcus Smith) [19]
2015 29 Phillip Dorsett WR Miami (FL)
2016 18 Ryan Kelly † C Alabama
2017 15 Malik Hooker S Ohio State
2018 6 Quenton Nelson † G Notre Dame
2019 No pick (traded to Washington Redskins, used to select Montez Sweat) [20]
2020 No pick (traded to San Francisco 49ers, who then traded it to Tampa Bay Buccaneers, used to select Tristan Wirfs)
2021 21 Kwity Paye DE Michigan
2022 No pick (traded to Philadelphia Eagles, who then traded it to New Orleans Saints, who then traded it to Washington Commanders, used to select Jahan Dotson)
2023 4 Anthony Richardson QB Florida
2024 15 Laiatu Latu DE UCLA

Notes

  1. ^ Alder, James. "NFL Draft Basics:Determining Order of Selection". football.about.com. Archived from the original on 2007-01-10. Retrieved 2008-01-14.
  2. ^ Lottery bonus pick.
  3. ^ Acquired from the New Orleans Saints – Pro Football Draft History 1967
  4. ^ Acquired from the Miami Dolphins – Pro Football Draft History 1971 Archived 2006-01-07 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Acquired from the San Diego Chargers – Pro Football Draft History 1973 Archived 2009-04-28 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ Acquired from the Los Angeles Rams – Pro Football Draft History 1974 Archived 2007-04-24 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Acquired from the Atlanta Falcons – Pro Football Draft History 1975 Archived 2008-05-15 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ Acquired from the Dallas Cowboys – Pro Football Draft History 1980 Archived 2009-04-08 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ Acquired from the Minnesota Vikings – Pro Football Draft History 1981 Archived 2009-04-08 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ Acquired from the Los Angeles Rams – Pro Football Draft History 1982 Archived 2007-12-22 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ Traded Elway to the Denver Broncos for QB Mark Herrmann, rights to OL Chris Hinton and a first-round pick in the 1984 NFL Draft. – A 'true test' for Elway Archived 2008-02-06 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ From Denver Broncos in Elway trade
  13. ^ The Colts traded their #20 overall pick to the Los Angeles Rams – Pro Football Draft History 1988 Archived 2008-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ The Colts traded their #13 overall pick to the Atlanta Falcons – Pro Football Draft History 1991 Archived 2009-04-07 at the Wayback Machine
  15. ^ Acquired from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Pro Football Draft History 1992 Archived 2009-05-04 at the Wayback Machine
  16. ^ Acquired from the Los Angeles Rams – Pro Football Draft History 1994 Archived 2007-06-10 at the Wayback Machine
  17. ^ The Colts traded their #29 overall pick to the Atlanta Falcons – Pro Football Draft History 2004 Archived 2009-04-08 at the Wayback Machine
  18. ^ The Colts traded their 1st round pick (29th overall) to the San Francisco 49ers
  19. ^ "Colts First Round Pick? Essentially, it's Trent Richardson -". Archived from the original on 2014-05-11. Retrieved 2014-05-09.
  20. ^ "2019 NFL Draft trade tracker: Details of all the moves". Archived from the original on 2024-05-31. Retrieved 2024-06-04.

References