Dane Brugler's 7-Round Mock Draft Does Solid Job Addressing Colts' Needs

The hay is nearly in the barn in preparation for the 2026 NFL Draft, and major outlets and experts are beginning to file their final mock drafts.

On Wednesday, Dane Brugler of The Athletic submitted his final seven-round mock draft, which does a nice job of addressing most of the Indianapolis Colts' needs.

LB Jake Golday, Cincinnati

The Colts need linebacker help, badly, but do they go for a traditional MIKE linebacker, or a playmaking WILL? Here, they go with the best player in Golday, who is more of a playmaking WILL at this point in his development.

Golday will run through fire in pursuit of the ball carrier, has a vast background as a pass rusher earlier in his career (852 snaps), and he's also played 522 snaps in the slot in coverage.

WR Chris Brazzell II, Tennessee

The Colts need to replace the reliability of Michael Pittman Jr. and the size, athleticism, and playmaking of AD Mitchell. Brazzell can eventually check those boxes while complementing Alec Pierce as another downfield playmaker. Brazzell also took an official 30 visit with the Colts recently, late in the pre-draft process.

S Genesis Smith, Arizona

The Colts need to replace their third safety, Rodney Thomas II, who essentially played exclusively high and played a large role on special teams. Not needing to rely on Smith as a full-time player would give him time to iron out some issues in his game, such as play recognition and tackling at the NFL level. Nasir Adderley and Jonathan Owens would be the main players standing in Smith’s way of getting 150ish snaps as a rookie on defense, while Smith could carve out an immediate core special teams role.

ED Anthony Lucas, USC

The Colts have some pass-rush specialist edges in Laiatu Latu and Arden Key, but they need to get deeper at base end, where they only have Jaylahn Tuimoloau and Micheal Clemons.

Waiting until Round 5 to address the Colts' edge needs, and doing it with a completely raw player such as Lucas, is a tough sell.

Lucas has terrific size and length, measuring 6'6", 256, with 33-1/2" arms, as well as athleticism, but he's far from a finished product. He has just 8.0 tackles for loss and 3.0 sacks in 39 career games for Texas A&M and USC.

OT Drew Shelton, Penn State

The Colts need another Will Fries/Matt Goncalves-level hit, and Shelton is a great candidate. He's 6'5", 313, with over 33-inch arms, can play guard or tackle, and has 34 career starts at left tackle.

Shelton could quickly become the Colts' best option as their swing tackle or guard.

DB Lorenzo Styles, Ohio State

The "other" Styles brother isn't so bad himself. While he's nowhere near the prospect that linebacker brother Sonny is, Lorenzo is a plus athlete who ran a 4.27-second 40-yard dash at the Combine and posted a 39-inch vertical. Styles began his career at Notre Dame as a wide receiver before transferring to Ohio State in 2023 and converting to cornerback. He became a starter for the Buckeyes in 2025, where he played quite a bit at slot and free safety. While Styles develops in whatever positional home the Colts want, he could continue contributing as a core special-teamer (495 career college snaps).

RB Le'Veon Moss, Texas A&M

The Colts need a complement to Jonathan Taylor, and they thought they had that last year in rookie DJ Giddens, but he played very little (just 70 snaps in nine games). While the book isn't closed on Giddens yet, he needs competition.

Moss (5'11", 203) is a tough runner who may remind the Colts of another former Moss, whose play style they've been chasing, Zack Moss. Le'Veon has a rough injury history, unfortunately, dealing with ailments in 2023, 2024, and 2025.