The Baltimore Colts joined the National Football League (NFL) in 1953 where they participated in their first NFL draft and selected Billy Vessels, a halfback from the University of Oklahoma. The team's most recent first-round selection was Tyler Warren, a tight end from Penn State in the 2025 NFL draft.

Every year during April, each NFL franchise seeks to add new players to its roster through a collegiate draft officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting but more commonly known as the NFL Draft. Teams are ranked in inverse order based on the previous season's record, with the worst record picking first, and the second worst picking second and so on. The two exceptions to this order are made for teams that appeared in the previous Super Bowl; the Super Bowl champion always picks last, and the Super Bowl loser always picks second last. Teams have the option of trading away their picks to other teams for different picks, players, cash, or a combination thereof. Thus, it is not uncommon for a team's actual draft pick to differ from their assigned draft pick, or for a team to have extra or no draft picks in any round due to these trades.

The Colts have selected the number one overall pick in the draft on seven occasions, one of which was used to select Super Bowl XLI MVP Peyton Manning. They have also selected the second overall pick five times and the third overall pick twice. The team's five selections from Ohio State University are the most chosen by the Colts from one university.

Key +Table key^ Indicates the player was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. * Selected number one overall † Indicates the player was selected for the Pro Bowl at any time in their career.— The Colts did not draft a player in the first round that year.Year Each year links to an article about that particular NFL Draft.Pick Indicates the number of the pick within the first roundPosition Indicates the position of the player in the NFLCollege The player's college football team

Player selections

+Indianapolis Colts first-round draft picksYearPickPlayer namePositionCollegeNotes 1953 2 Billy Vessels HB Oklahoma 1954 5 Cotton Davidson QB Baylor 1955 1 * George Shaw QB Oregon Lottery bonus pick. 3 Alan Ameche † FB Wisconsin 1956 9 Lenny Moore ^ HB Penn State 1957 8 Jim Parker ^ G Ohio State 1958 11 Lenny Lyles † CB Louisville 1959 12 Jackie Burkett C Auburn 1960 10 Ron Mix ^ OT USC 1961 7 Tom Matte † RB Ohio State 1962 9 Wendell Harris CB Louisiana State 1963 5 Bob Vogel † OT Ohio State 1964 8 Marv Woodson † S Indiana 1965 14 Mike Curtis † LB Duke 1966 15 Sam Ball OT Kentucky 1967 1 * Bubba Smith † DE Michigan State Acquired from the New Orleans Saints – Pro Football Draft History 1967 20 Jim Detwiler HB Michigan 1968 23 John Williams OT Minnesota 1969 25 Eddie Hinton WR Oklahoma 1970 18 Norm Bulaich † RB Texas Christian 1971 22 Don McCauley RB North Carolina Acquired from the Miami Dolphins – Pro Football Draft History 1971 26 Leonard Dunlap CB North Texas 1972 22 Tom Drougas OT Oregon 1973 2 Bert Jones † QB Louisiana State Acquired from the San Diego Chargers – Pro Football Draft History 1973 10 Joe Ehrmann † DT Syracuse 1974 5 John Dutton † DT Nebraska 24 Roger Carr † WR Louisiana Tech Acquired from the Los Angeles Rams – Pro Football Draft History 1974 1975 3 Ken Huff G North Carolina Acquired from the Atlanta Falcons – Pro Football Draft History 1975 1976 20 Ken Novak DT Purdue 1977 26 Randy Burke WR Kentucky 1978 25 Reese McCall TE Auburn 1979 6 Barry Krauss LB Alabama 1980 5 Curtis Dickey RB Texas A&M 24 Derrick Hatchett CB Texas Acquired from the Dallas Cowboys – Pro Football Draft History 1980 1981 12 Randy McMillan RB Pittsburgh 18 Donnell Thompson DE North Carolina Acquired from the Minnesota Vikings – Pro Football Draft History 1981 1982 2 Johnie Cooks LB Mississippi State 4 Art Schlichter QB Ohio State Acquired from the Los Angeles Rams – Pro Football Draft History 1982 1983 1 * John Elway ^ QB Stanford Traded Elway to the Denver Broncos for QB Mark Herrmann, rights to OL Chris Hinton and a first-round pick in the 1984 NFL Draft. – A 'true test' for Elway 1984 8 Leonard Coleman CB Vanderbilt 19 Ron Solt † G Maryland From Denver Broncos in Elway trade 1985 5 Duane Bickett † LB USC 1986 4 Jon Hand DE Alabama 1987 2 Cornelius Bennett † LB Alabama 1988 — — No Pick — — The Colts traded their #20 overall pick to the Los Angeles Rams – Pro Football Draft History 1988 1989 22 Andre Rison † WR Michigan State 1990 1 * Jeff George QB Illinois 1991 — — No Pick — — The Colts traded their #13 overall pick to the Atlanta Falcons – Pro Football Draft History 1991 1992 1 * Steve Emtman DE Washington 2 Quentin Coryatt LB Texas A&M Acquired from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Pro Football Draft History 1992 1993 16 Sean Dawkins WR California 1994 2 Marshall Faulk ^ RB San Diego State 5 Trev Alberts LB Nebraska Acquired from the Los Angeles Rams – Pro Football Draft History 1994 1995 15 Ellis Johnson DT Florida 1996 19 Marvin Harrison ^ WR Syracuse 1997 19 Tarik Glenn † OT California 1998 1 * Peyton Manning ^ QB Tennessee 1999 4 Edgerrin James ^ RB Miami (FL) 2000 28 Rob Morris LB BYU 2001 30 Reggie Wayne † WR Miami (FL) 2002 11 Dwight Freeney ^ DE Syracuse 2003 24 Dallas Clark † TE Iowa 2004No pick (traded to Atlanta Falcons, used to select Michael Jenkins) The Colts traded their #29 overall pick to the Atlanta Falcons – Pro Football Draft History 2004 2005 29 Marlin Jackson CB Michigan 2006 30 Joseph Addai † RB LSU 2007 32 Anthony Gonzalez WR Ohio State 2008No pick (traded to San Francisco 49ers, used to select Kentwan Balmer) The Colts traded their 1st round pick (29th overall) to the San Francisco 49ers 2009 27 Donald Brown RB Connecticut 2010 31 Jerry Hughes DE TCU 2011 22 Anthony Castonzo OT Boston College 2012 1 * Andrew Luck † QB Stanford 2013 24 Björn Werner DE Florida State 2014No pick (traded to Cleveland Browns, who then traded it to Philadelphia Eagles, used to select Marcus Smith) 2015 29 Phillip Dorsett WR Miami (FL) 2016 18 Ryan Kelly † C Alabama 2017 15 Malik Hooker S Ohio State 2018 6 Quenton Nelson † G Notre Dame 2019No pick (traded to Washington Redskins, used to select Montez Sweat) 2020No pick (traded to San Francisco 49ers, who then traded it to Tampa Bay Buccaneers, used to select Tristan Wirfs) 2021 21 Kwity Paye DE Michigan 2022No pick (traded to Philadelphia Eagles, who then traded it to New Orleans Saints, who then traded it to Washington Commanders, used to select Jahan Dotson) 2023 4 Anthony Richardson QB Florida202415Laiatu LatuDEUCLA 2025 14 Tyler Warren TE Penn State 2026 — — No Pick — — The Colts traded their #16 overall pick to the New York Jets –

Notes

References