To the surprise of absolutely no one who has followed the Indianapolis Colts throughout Chris Ballard’s tenure, the general manager covets more draft capital.

A week before the start of the 2020 NFL Draft, Ballard made it clear that he won’t be content to sit back with his eight picks, the first coming at No. 34 -- the second pick of the second round.

“To be honest with you, I’d like more picks,” Ballard said Thursday afternoon on a video-conference with local media. “I feel confident. We’ll see if that happens or not."

Its history serves as any indicator, no one should bet against Ballard making it happen. During his first three drafts, Ballard has traded back in each of them and a total of six times (trades listed below). He’s also traded veterans for picks twice, Henry Anderson for a seventh-round pick in 2018 and Hassan Ridgeway for a seventh-round pick in 2019.

That makes eight occasions in which Ballard has acquired additional draft capital during or ahead of the draft. Those deals have led to the Colts making 29 selection during his first three drafts, tied for the fourth most in the NFL behind only the Bengals (32), Seahawks and Vikings (31).

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Some Colts fans might not understand why Ballard would want to sacrifice quality (the better pick) for quantity (more picks). The simple answer is that he believes in his own scouting ability and that of his staff.

He trusts that more often than not, they'll be able to find solid players -- maybe just as good as those they passed on -- further down the board.

"I feel confident in our group," Ballard said Thursday. "I feel confident in our work and what we have done, and we think we are going to acquire good players.”

Ballard’s eagerness to acquire additional draft picks will almost certainly make his cell phone number a popular one after Day 1 of the draft. Assuming the Colts haven’t used their top selection to jump back into the first round -- Ballard has only packaged picks to trade up twice in three years -- No. 34 will almost assuredly will be a highly coveted pick.

General managers from across the league will have almost a full day to dream on acquiring the player(s) they thought should have gone on Day 1 but are still available on Day 2.

Almost every year, it seems the top of the second round is a hotbed for trade activity. In the same position last season, armed with the 34th pick, the Colts had an opportunity to trade back.

“We had action,” Ballard admitted. “We had a chance (to move back and acquire more picks).”

Ultimately, he decided the team would regret passing on Ya-Sin and they made him the thirty-fourth selection. However, three picks later, the Raiders traded back. They did it again at 38. Before that, Seattle traded backs 10 spots from 37 to 47 and netted an additional third-round pick.

In 2017, the Jaguars traded out of 34, while the Bears netted three extra picks trading back nine spots from No. 36 down to No. 45.

Needless to say, the top of the second round has historically been a prime spot to make deals. If Ballard can find the value he wants, no one should be surprised if he pulls the trigger.

And for those Colts fan daydreaming about what one of those trades might look like, you can play matchmaker by examining the Jimmy Johnson draft pick value chart. While teams use different variations of the chart, Colts trades have historically lined up well with Johnson’s.

In the case of the 34th pick, the selection is valued by the Johnson chart at 560 points. If, for instance, Denver wanted to move up 11 spots from 45 -- a pick valued at 440 points, it would cost them approximately 120 points in draft capital to make it worth the Colts’ while. Denver’s pick at the end of the third round, No. 95, is valued at exactly 120 points.

Iterations of such deals are endless. Based on what's still available on the Colts' draft board, it will be up to Ballard to determine if they can still select a player they covet while sliding down the board.

Ballard’s history of trading back

2017

Colts trade fourth-round pick (No. 121, RB Joe Williams) to San Francisco for fourth-round pick (No. 143, Marlon Mack) and sixth-round pick (No. 161, LB Anthony Walker).

2018

Colts trade first-round pick (No. 3, QB Sam Darnold) to New York Jets for first-round pick (No. 6, OG Quenton Nelson), second-round pick (No. 37, OL Braden Smith), second-round pick (No. 49, traded to Philadelphia) and 2019 second-round pick (No. 34, Rock Ya-Sin).

Colts trade second-round pick (No. 49, TE Dallas Goedert) to Philadelphia for second-round pick (No. 52, DE Kemoko Turay) and fifth-round pick (No. 169, RB Jordan Wilkins).

Colts trade fifth-round pick (No. 140, DT Maurice Hurst) to Oakland for fifth-round pick (No. 159, WR Daurice Fountain) and sixth-round pick (No. 185, WR Deon Cain).

2019

Colts trade first-round pick (No. 26, DE Montez Sweat) to Washington for second-round pick (No. 46, traded to Cleveland) and 2020 second-round pick (No. 34).

Colts trade second-round pick (No. 46, CB Greedy Williams) to Cleveland for second-round pick (No. 49, LB Ben Banogu) and fifth-round pick (No. 144, DB Marvell Tell III).

Follow IndyStar Colts Insider Jim Ayello on Twitter: @jimayello.