2024 NFL draft: ESPN debates need vs. value for Colts at pick 15

Positional value vs. positional need is always a major talking point for each NFL team, including the Colts, when it comes to the draft. Ultimately, teams hope to address both, but there are going to be instances when one is preferred over the other.

In a recent article by ESPN’s Jordan Reid and Matt Miller, they set out to identify the best realistic value selections for each team with their first-round selection, as well as which prospects might make sense from a positional needs perspective.

Reid would make the picks for the biggest team need, and Miller pointed out which prospect would provide the best value at each pick. As is noted at the beginning of their article, this is not a mock draft, nor is it a projection of what each team will actually do. Rather, it’s a look at which prospects best fit these two important categories.

Here is how things turned out for the Colts, along with my breakdown of the two picks: