The Ultimate 7-Round Indianapolis Colts 2026 Mock Draft: Surviving the Sauce Gardner Trade

Let’s be brutally honest for a second: heading into the 2026 NFL Draft without a first-round pick is a special kind of torture for a football fan. Sure, trading that pick away to land Sauce Gardner was the kind of blockbuster, franchise-altering move that makes you spill your morning coffee. But right now? With the draft less than a month away and the stakes higher than ever? The anxiety in Indianapolis is palpable.

General Manager Chris Ballard is staring down a paper-thin margin for error. The Colts desperately need an influx of youth, but they only own two picks in the top 100.

So, how do we cope with this draft-season stress? We run a seven-round mock draft to see if we can salvage the future. But we aren’t just throwing darts at a wall in a dark room. I fired up the brand-new A to Z Sports mock draft simulator to see what kind of haul we could realistically pull off. Spoiler alert: it got a little crazy.

Here is how I would fix the Indianapolis Colts.

The Inevitable Trade Back

You didn’t actually think we were going to stay put at pick 47, did you? Come on. This is the Colts we are talking about. Trading back is basically a reflex action at this point.

Sitting at 47, the board didn’t feel quite right, so I let the simulator field some offers. The Green Bay Packers came knocking with a deal that made too much sense. We sent them pick 47, and in return, we moved back a measly five spots to pick 52 while snatching up an extra fifth-rounder (pick 160). It is a classic move to accumulate draft capital, and it sets the stage for the rest of the board.

Round 2, Pick 52: Josiah Trotter, LB, Missouri

After sliding back to 52, the glaring neon sign above the Colts’ roster was pointing directly at the linebacker room. The Colts desperately needed someone who could step onto the grass on day one and not look completely lost.

Enter Josiah Trotter out of Missouri. I briefly debated taking Jake Golday here, but Golday is still a bit raw after transitioning from the edge. Trotter, on the other hand, possesses a football IQ that is entirely off the charts. He is a plug-and-play linebacker with the kind of mental processing that makes you think he could be wearing the green dot for Lou Anarumo’s defense by week one. He’s smart, he’s physical, and he instantly upgrades the middle of the field.

Round 3, Pick 78: Jaishawn Barham, EDGE, Michigan

You can never have too many guys who make opposing quarterbacks sweat. Having bypassed the edge rushers in the second round, I practically sprinted to the podium for Jaishawn Barham in the third.

Is he a bit of a project? Yes. Barham only has a half-season of legitimate experience playing as a pure edge rusher. But the upside here is absolutely intoxicating. When you flip on the Michigan tape, you see a guy with rare explosiveness and an unnatural bend around the corner. Plus, he has a surprisingly great feel for defending the run, which you rarely see in guys labeled as “speed rushers.” Taking Barham here is a calculated gamble on raw athletic traits, and I am completely here for it.

Round 4, Pick 113: Trey Zuhn, OT/IOL, Texas A&M

Let’s not sugarcoat this: the depth on the Colts’ offensive line right now is genuinely terrifying. Outside of Dalton Tucker, it gets ugly fast. We need versatility, and we need it yesterday.

Texas A&M’s Trey Zuhn is exactly the kind of offensive line Swiss Army knife that keeps general managers sleeping soundly at night. He played left tackle in the SEC, but most scouts project him kicking inside to center or guard at the pro level. He could slot in at any of three interior spots and immediately upgrade the depth chart, or he could openly compete with Jalen Travis for the starting right tackle job. It is not a sexy pick, but it is the exact type of pick that wins football games in December.

Round 5, Pick 156: De’Zhaun Stribling, WR, Ole Miss

It hurts to talk about it, but with Michael Pittman Jr. gone, the Colts have a massive, gaping hole at the outside receiver spot opposite Alec Pierce. We need someone who can actually get open.

De’Zhaun Stribling out of Ole Miss is my absolute favorite sleeper in this class. The guy is an absolute technician in the short and intermediate areas of the field, and he turns into a total nightmare for defensive backs once the ball is in his hands. He is a yards-after-catch monster who would perfectly complement Pierce and Josh Downs. Getting a potential starting receiver in the fifth round feels like theft.

Round 5, Pick 160: Cade Klubnik, QB, Clemson

Yep. Take a deep breath. We are drafting a quarterback.

With the Anthony Richardson trade rumors reaching a fever pitch, there is a very real possibility that he is wearing a different jersey by the time training camp rolls around. If the QB room implodes, taking a low-risk, high-upside flier on Cade Klubnik is a no-brainer. Remember, before the 2025 season went sideways for Clemson, people were legitimately discussing Klubnik as a potential number one overall pick. The talent is in there somewhere. Let him sit behind Daniel Jones, battle it out with Riley Leonard for the backup job, and see if you can catch lightning in a bottle.

Round 6, Pick 214: Robert Spears-Jennings, S, Oklahoma

The 2026 safety class is ridiculously deep, which means starting-caliber talent is going to slip through the cracks. Oklahoma’s Robert Spears-Jennings is one of those guys. He flies completely under the radar, but he is an elite athlete and a violently physical run-stopper. At worst, you are drafting a lethal special teams weapon. At best, he pushes to replace Nick Cross as a starter on the back end of the defense.

Round 7, Pick 220: Jamarion Miller, RB, Alabama

To close out the draft, we made a minor, aggressive move. I packaged our final two seventh-round picks (249 and 254) and shipped them to the Buffalo Bills to jump up 19 spots for Jamarion “Jam” Miller.

The Alabama rushing attack was a bit of a letdown last year, but you can confidently blame their offensive line for that mess. Miller is built like a bowling ball (5-10, 200+ lbs) and has fantastic burst. I love his upside as a pass-catcher out of the backfield, and he provides much-needed competition to be Jonathan Taylor’s primary backup.

Final Grade: B

The simulator handed this haul a solid “B” grade, mostly praising the absolute heist of grabbing De’Zhaun Stribling in the fifth round. I wasn’t completely thrilled with my trade-up for a running back in the seventh, but hey, you have to get your guys. All things considered, surviving a draft without a first-round pick and walking away with this much young talent is a massive win for Indianapolis.