Colts make surprise selection in early 2025 NFL mock draft

There’s a long way to go before the 2025 NFL draft arrives and a lot can change between now and late April. However, this selection by the Indianapolis Colts is still a bit of a surprise.

In a recent mock draft from Chris Trapasso of CBS Sports, with the 14th pick, he has the Colts selecting wide receiver Luther Burden from Missouri.

“Burden is a YAC monster who’d give Anthony Richardson another reliable underneath weapon beyond Josh Downs,” wrote Trapasso.

Now, Burden is considered one of the top receiver prospects in this year’s draft. So Burden being taken at this point isn’t the surprise.

The surprise is that with a receiver room already made up of Michael Pittman, Josh Downs, Alec Pierce and AD Mitchell, that the Colts would further add to this group even though there are other positions on this roster that have a greater need for competition.

In addition to all of that, Burden played 85% of his snaps this season from the slot, where obviously, the Colts already have Downs. In 2022, Burden primarily lined up out wide.

The primary positions that we’ve seen mocked to the Colts in the early going are tight end, safety, cornerback, and linebacker.

Over his three seasons at Missouri, Burden caught 71% of his 275 targets at 11.8 yards per catch with 21 touchdowns.

For more on Burden’s game, here is a snippet of what Kyle Crabbs of the 33rd Football team wrote in his pre-draft report:

“Burden is not a ready-made route runner with a full tree, so his opportunities will need to be in a limited tree role and whatever designed touches a coach can create for him to quickly get the ball into his hands. Look for Burden III to win early in the league on the vertical plane and underneath vs. zone.”