NFL Draft

— Continued from Wednesday —

ROUND 5 pick 136: Josh Chapman, DT – Alabama

They finally drafted a defensive player with this pick. This guy is a 316-pound nose tackle that anchored the defensive line for Alabama’s National Championship team this season. To be able to draw consistent double teams on the best team in college football makes you a pretty tough dude. What makes this guy more impressive is that he played the second half of the season with a torn ACL in his left knee! Dang! Now I don’t know what you think qualifies someone as a bad ass but in my book, yep, that will pretty much do it. He had surgery to repair the ligament the week after they won the BCS championship and is on track to be ready for training camp. If he gets back healthy and you pair him with last year’s rookie Drake Nevis and free agent addition Cory Redding, I think our D- line has a chance to be formidable a little ahead of schedule. Which is nice.

ROUND 5 pick 170: Vick Ballard, RB – Mississippi State

He was a JUCO transfer and two-year starter for MSU. I will admit I had never heard of him until this year’s scouting combine and it was not for a good reason. See ‘vick ballard combine’ on YouTube when you have a second. Ouch. After hearing his name called on Saturday I remembered who he was instantly. He had a very productive career in the SEC and is a versatile three down back. He doesn’t blow people away with his straight line speed but I watched a draft recap with Michael Lombardi of the NFL network and he thinks Ballard has the chance to be a huge steal for us and feels he’s better than any of the backs we already have on our roster. I was pretty impressed with the production we got from Delone Carter as a rookie last year, and I thought Donald Brown took a nice step forward so for him to say that about Ballard makes me optimistic for our ground game this year.

ROUND 6 pick 206: LaVon Brazill, WR – Ohio

We are now entering the part of the draft where I had to look people up online. I thought making it to the 6th round before I had to do that was pretty good. Brazill is another small and quick receiver like our 3rd round pick Hilton. He can be a deep threat and also offer potential in the return game. He ran a 4.4 40 at the combine and I have felt for years that, as a team, we were pretty slow compared to a lot of other teams in the league. I’m all for bringing in as many fast guys as we can find, and it looks like that is exactly what Brazill brings to the table.

ROUND 7 pick 208: Justin Anderson, OG – Georgia

This guy is a listed at over 340 pounds, so it appears the need to get bigger on the offensive line was addressed. He played tackle as a senior at Georgia but is listed as a guard, so he could provide depth at both positions. The University of Georgia website also says he played some defensive tackle his junior year so seems to be pretty versatile. He’s a guy that big, this late in the draft? Sure, why not.

ROUND 7 pick 214: Tim Fugger, OLB – Vanderbilt

This is another guy who looks like he’ll play a different position at the next level. He was a 6’3″ 250-pound defensive end in college but will most likely be asked to stand up as an outside linebacker in the 3-4. The transition should be pretty easy as he ran a 4.6 40 at his pro day and is already bigger than most linebackers we have had in the past. Had a nice senior season recording 7.5 sacks and 13.5 tackles for loss. He was named second team All-SEC which, if you are unaware, is generally considered the top defensive conference in college football. He may not be an immediate starter or anything but should have time to develop and learn while helping out on special teams.

ROUND 7 pick 253 & “Mr. Irrelevant”: Chandler Harnish, QB – Northern Illinois

Rarely does a team have the first pick overall and the last pick overall. I think it happened one other time, but it’s not important enough for me to look it up right now. I do know that the same team had never drafted a QB first in the draft and last in the draft until this weekend. Kind of a cool side-note to end the draft, if you ask me. You don’t have to ask me, I wrote this on my own anyway. Sure you were the dead last person taken but still got to hear your name called in the draft, which is better than being an undrafted free agent. You also get a parade in your honor during ‘Mr. Irrelevant Week’ in Newport Beach, CA. I’m told it’s a tad bit nicer there this time of year than central Indiana if you can believe that. You also get a paid vacation to Disneyland, which has to be every aspiring 23 year-old NFL players dream-come-true. In the case of Mr. Harnish, you also get to come back home and play for your favorite team growing up. Chandler is from Bluffton in northeast Indiana outside of FT. Wayne. He was a 4 year starter at Northern Illinois and set many school records along the way. Obviously the Colts drafted their starter for the future at the top of this draft, but he has to like his chances of making the team as a 2nd or 3rd string backup. Since the four QB’s from last year’s roster have all moved on, I’d say he has a good opportunity to realize his dream. Good for him.

Overall I would say this years’ draft was a good start on the path to building the Colts into a contender again. I am not naïve enough to think we will win 10 games next season, but I am also not convinced we will suck as bad as most people in the national media want to think we will. There are still undrafted and veteran free agents on the market who could supplement the draft picks and come in to compete for playing time. If we can find another linebacker and a corner or two, I think it would certainly help the cause. We will not be able to truly judge what the new regime is doing until we see the product on the field, but, at this point, I will say I like the direction we’re headed. Heck, after last year’s debacle of a season I’d be happy with a little progress and a little promise moving forward. Make it happen fellas. Guys like me who have a football problem need you to. Go Horse!!

— Read Part 1 & Part 2 —

— Continued from Tuesday —

ROUND 2 pick 34: COBY FLEENER, TE – STANFORD

What? Holy crap they did it!! Ever since the combine concluded this was how I hoped our first two picks would go. Fleener was the top tight end on every draft board I saw. We had a glaring need at TE with the release of Dallas Clark and the free agent defection of Jacob Tamme. I think Brody Eldridge was our only guy left and although an adequate blocker, he is not what I would consider a threat as a receiver. In the days leading up to the draft, it didn’t look like Fleener would be available when we picked on Day 2. Most draftniks had him going to San Francisco to reunite with his college coach, Jim Harbaugh, at the end of Round 1. I was ecstatic Thursday night when the round ended and he was still an option. I thought it was meant to be. It just made too much sense. In addition to his talent and abilities, Luck already has rapport with him both on and off the field. I kept hearing all the ESPN and NFL network guys saying we would take Courtney Upshaw, the LB from Alabama, or a big space eating DT to help the new defense. Those picks would have been hard to argue with. I’m glad I don’t have to. I think this was the best option and it shows Andrew Luck that the front office is committed to making him successful as early as possible.

ROUND 3 pick 64: DWAYNE ALLEN, TE – Clemson

This is the first pick I had to think about for a minute. I really thought they would address the need for a second CB and draft Trumaine Johnson out of Montana, whom Saint Louis ended up taking him with the very next pick. So instead we choose the consensus second best TE in the draft? Yeah, I guess I’m good with that. I was honestly hoping to snag Rueben Randle, the WR from LSU who many thought would go in the 20’s but slid until the end of Round 2, but the Giants picked him right before us. With the first two picks of Day 2 the Colts TE position went from a weakness to a strength. Allen won the John Mackey Award last season as college football’s best tight end. He is not as tall or fast as Fleener but might be more balanced overall. New offensive coordinator Bruce Arians likes to use two TE sets and he now has the ability to do just that. I think this also brings the Colts back to their roots of having two game breakers at the position. The media likes to credit the Patriots as being the first team to have success with two tight ends in Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. Screw the Patriots. If my memory serves me correctly, I seem to remember Dilger and Pollard- Pollard and Clark- Clark and Tamme. Seems to me like we did well enough in that arena long before those guys from New England came around and I hope our young nucleus at the position can make some noise of their own this fall.

ROUND 3 pick 92: T.Y. Hilton, WR – Florida International

We traded this year’s 4th round pick and next years 5th round pick to draft Hilton at the end of the 3rd round. This guy is fast. I mean, really fast. Maybe the fastest in this draft. He reportedly ran a 4.36 40-yard dash into the wind and a 4.28 with the wind at his back during his pro day this spring. He said his best-recorded time ever was a 4.24. Um…. yes please. We can work with that. I’m not sure my car can do 40 yards that quickly. I heard an interview with his college coach, and he said this guy is ready to contribute Day 1. He is not that big at only 5’9 180lbs, but as a slot receiver they can move him around in formations and create mismatches off the snap. I’m excited to see the kind of game breaking speed I’m not sure we’ve ever seen here before. He was also a prolific kick and punt returner in college and that is an area that I have prayed we would address for years. He also has some experience running ‘wildcat’ type plays from the QB position, which could keep opposing defenses on their toes. If he can stay healthy he should really open up the field for our young offense in a variety of ways.

— Concluded on Thursday —

The NFL draft has come and gone and the makeover of the Indianapolis Colts has taken a few steps forward. Obviously, it is still a work in progress but I am very optimistic that improvements were made this weekend.

I am a die-hard Colts fan and generally see the glass as half-full. I was sad to see the release of Peyton and the purging of our veteran roster, but at the same time I understood that it needed to happen. We were drafting #1 overall for a reason. With a new GM, new coaching staff, and new franchise quarterback coming into the mix, it was time to reload the stable with youth, optimism, and some salary cap relief.

It was a foregone conclusion to most, as far back as November, that Andrew Luck would be the cornerstone of Indianapolis’ rebuilding. I followed his career at Stanford and have been impressed not only with his passing ability and knowledge of the game, but by his toughness and underrated athletic ability. If you watch the tape from (I believe) two years ago against USC, Luck throws an interception and instead of sulking about the mistake he follows the play and absolutely hammers the DB who picked him off. I think the guy was actually knocked out of the game. It was awesome. I’m not saying I want him to do that in the NFL by any means, but it definitely earned him some street cred as being a team player willing to sacrifice his body and erasing any thoughts that he might be a diva QB.

I also followed his career for a reason most of you may not be aware of. While a senior in high school weighing his final three college choices, he ultimately chose Stanford over………Purdue University. That’s right. Look it up. As a Purdue grad I can only imagine how the fate of my Boilermakers the last couple of seasons might have changed with Mr. Luck at the helm. I shed a tear……

Going into the draft I was curious to see how new GM Ryan Grigson and HC Chuck Pagano would go about revamping the roster. We have glaring needs on offense with a lack of people, let alone playmakers to help Luck in his transition to the NFL. The defense is switching to a 3-4, which requires beefier lineman up front and asks the linebackers to drop into coverage more often. The current roster was built with smaller, quicker guys to play the Tampa 2 and is a far cry from an ideal makeup for the new look. I like the additions of free agents Cory Redding, Brandon McKinney, and Tom Zbikowski who not only have experience in the 3-4, but all three played for Pagano in Baltimore and can help teach the new system to our returning defenders.

I know Rome wasn’t built in a day. I know that no matter what happened in the draft this weekend that it will most likely be at least a two to three year process before major progress is realized. My biggest fear going into rounds 2-7 was that the front office would try to fill the needs on defense sooner than addressing the need for playmakers around Luck. I listened to sports radio all day on Friday, and it seemed like all the talking heads wanted the Colts to draft defense-defense-defense. I personally thought that would be a huge mistake. We just took our quarterback of the future and all these clowns wanted us to draft a defensive tackle or linebacker with pick 34? When the best tight end in the draft and at least four receivers with a first round grade were sitting there? It made no sense to me and as sad as it is to admit, I actually had a stomachache when the second round began Friday night. My wife thinks I have a problem; it’s hard to argue with her. If we were going all in with Andrew Luck I felt we had to do everything we could to make his life easier as a rookie. I understand defense wins championships but next year our offense is going to have to win us games. We’ll have a better chance to win a 42-41 shootout if we can give Luck enough weapons that he can utilize. I thought in addition to Wayne, Collie, and a healthy Donnie Avery (fingers crossed), he needed at least one more receiver and definitely one and possibly two tight ends. I like the pieces we added to the offensive line in free agency and as long as Anthony Castonzo and Ben Ijalana can stay healthy and progress as the anchors in their sophomore years, I think they can give Luck time to operate. So get him weapons. Please. Pretty please. Cherry on top???

Since the first round was a no-brainer, I will go over the final nine picks the Colts made and my brief thoughts. I will preface this with these are only my opinions. I’m not a scout, I’m not always politically correct, and I don’t watch every single Division I football game. I have a full time job, a beautiful young family, and a life, so I will admit I had not heard of all of them and had to look up some information on the later round guys. That being said….

— Continued on Wednesday —