INDIANAPOLIS — The pick the Colts originally held in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft has come and gone.
The New York Jets used the pick to take Oregon tight end Kenyon Sadiq, their second pick of the first round and one of the prizes they got for sending former All-Pro cornerback Sauce Gardner to Indianapolis.
Ultimately, Gardner’s play will determine whether the juice was worth the squeeze when Colts general manager Chris Ballard took the biggest swing of his tenure.
But it is fair to wonder if the 16th pick could have provided the instant impact Indianapolis needs on defense. Ballard said earlier this week that the Colts need a “fastball” at defensive end, and the last “fastball”-type of player in the draft, Miami’s Reuben Bain, went off the board to Tampa Bay with the No. 15 pick.
When New York went on the clock, the best players available carried a lot of questions.
USC wide receiver Makai Lemon, who went to the Eagles at No. 20, is widely considered a slot receiver, and Indianapolis already has Josh Downs there. The top two defensive ends on the board, Miami’s Akheem Mesidor and Auburn’s Keldric Faulk, have enough concerns that they remained on the board after the pick.
Mesidor will be 25 as a rookie and lacks the height and length the Colts typically like in a defensive end. Although Faulk has those measurables, he’s coming off a season with only two sacks.
The best fits remaining might have been at safety, where Oregon’s Dillon Thieneman or Toledo’s Emmanuel McNeil-Warren could have been legitimate upgrades over Nick Cross.
Or the Colts could have used the pick to address the hole that would still be on the roster at cornerback without Gardner. Tennessee’s Jermod McCoy and Clemson’s Aveion Terrell were available at No. 16; McCoy missed the entire 2025 season due to a torn ACL, and Terrell lacks the ideal length that No. 1 cornerbacks typically have.
Now, Indianapolis also gave up another first-round pick in 2027, and there is always the chance that the players available will end up turning into stars, making the trade look bad.
For the moment, though, it appears there wasn’t an obvious pick at No. 16 that the Colts would have made if they hadn’t traded for Gardner.
Joel A. Erickson and Nathan Brown cover the Colts all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Colts Insider newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Who was available with the pick the Colts traded for Sauce Gardner
Reporting by Joel A. Erickson, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
