Mike Wells, ESPN Staff Writer 6y

Giants' trade could influence what the Colts do at No. 6 in draft

INDIANAPOLIS -- The NFL draft is still five weeks away, and if the past few days are any indication, it’s anybody’s guess what will happen at the top.

The Indianapolis Colts shook up the top part of the draft when they moved back from No. 3 to No. 6 while also collecting additional second-round picks in this year's and next year’s drafts. The New York Giants will still pick No. 2 next month, but they may have put a wrinkle in the Colts’ plans at No. 6 when they traded pass-rusher Jason Pierre-Paul to Tampa Bay on Thursday.

How could that impact the Colts?

The thought all along was that the Giants may be leaning toward using the No. 2 pick to select a quarterback who would eventually replace Eli Manning. Now the Giants need another pass-rusher, which means they may look at selecting NC State’s Bradley Chubb, a player the Colts have interest in.

If no Chubb, that would leave Notre Dame’s guard Quenton Nelson available at No. 6, for Indianapolis, right?

Not necessarily.

The dominoes may not be done falling yet by the time the Colts go on at the clock for their pick. The Denver Broncos have the No. 5 pick, and there’s no guarantee they’re going to select a quarterback, especially after they signed Case Keenum in free agency.

What do the Colts do if the Broncos take Nelson?

That’s where the possibility of trading back and collecting more draft picks becomes even more of a reality for Colts GM Chris Ballard. Cleveland at No. 1 and the New York Jets, who the Colts swapped picks with, may be the only teams selecting quarterbacks among the top five picks.

Josh Allen, Josh Rosen, Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield, in no particular order, are projected as the top quarterbacks in the draft. That would leave two of those quarterbacks on the board when the Colts pick.

Ballard, who hasn’t ruled out the possibility of moving back even more as he continues his quest to build his roster through the draft, will likely have his phone ringing with teams trying to move up to snag the next available quarterback. Buffalo is a team to keep an eye on if that scenario plays out.

What if the Colts stay at No. 6 with Chubb and Nelson off the board?

The good news -- if you want to call it that -- is that Indianapolis has plenty of needs.

There's Virginia Tech defensive end Tremaine Edmunds, Oho State cornerback Denzel Ward and Alabama defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick is a wild card depending on whether teams see him more as a cornerback or safety. The Colts have Clayton Geathers and Mailk Hooker, who is coming off a torn ACL, at safety.

This could end up being a case where Ballard thinks hard about moving back more if he’s still under the belief they can snag an impact player with their pick.

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