Food for thought - Colts Draft

Ive been reading some really good posts the last few days. And some one posted that the Colts should trade next years 1st for an early 2nd this year. This makes sense, and I would not be surprised to see it happen.

When BP took Joseph Addai 2 years ago, he stated after the draft that they intended to take Mo-Jo with their second round pick. Last year, despite his severe limited pass-catching and blocking abilities, the Colts regularly stuck Kenton Keith in the line-up in hopes of rekindling the two headed monster the Colts displayed in 06's playoff run. BP still has not found his second back. This draft is loaded with RB's and grabbing a top flight one is probably a top priority in Indy. (If you think Im wrong, ask yourself why we would draft, Wayne, Clark, Gonzo, with 1st round choices when we had huge glaring needs on Defense? Answer: Because this team lives and dies by our Offense   - read: Manning - BP will do everything in his power to be an unstoppable Offense and if he can give Manning one more weapon than he will do it.)

I have a strange feeling that Colts fan are going to be upset when the Colts have 2 2nd round choices and they go RB then WR or TE. BP and Dungy do not want a starting DE, they want a pure pass rush specialist, you do not pay 2nd round money to a guy who at best you are looking for 3-5 sacks from.

Thoughts?

I agree.  Best case scenario is that the Colts trade next years 1st rounder to KC and pickup Chris Johnson early in the second (if the Colt's have to give up a 5th this year then so be it).  Then they can use the late second round pick for a linebacker like Adibi and take a TE in the third.  Or take a TE late in the second a take Woodyard in the 3rd. 

As long as RB, TE, and LB are the first three picks I think we will be in good shape. 

The DE spot can be filled with a speed-only rusher in the 4th or 5th that is used only on 3rd downs until he develops.  OL backups can also be addressed late. 

There is really no need at this point to look at the secondary until late and really no need for WR, unless your worried about Harrison, which I'm not. 

Answer: Because this team lives and dies by our Offense   - read: Manning - BP will do everything in his power to be an unstoppable Offense and if he can give Manning one more weapon than he will do it.)

This is the only part I do not agree with.  Offenses are not unstoppable.  The Patriots proved that last year, we proved it in 2004, and the Rams proved it in 2000 and 2001.

Defense was what sustained us during our playoff run to the championship and it was our offense that failed us several years in a row that we didn't win. (99, 03, 04, 05, 07).  Defense is also what led us to victory over the Bears in SB XLI.

I understand that you want Manning to have as many weapons as possible, but there's only ONE BALL...

By investing in defensive players that can have an impact on the other side of the ball, just about every play is a better investment than spending a high round draft pick on a guy who won't even see the ball much this year, and even later will only see the ball once every few offensive plays..

JMO

BcB

Not totally disagreeing with you, but there isn't going to be anyone at our late 2nd pick defensively that can come in and be an immediate starter and play maker. I still say Chris Johnson should be the first pick due to his returning skills and his ability to come in and be the #2 back. Good field position could do this offense wonders and he could a be that change of pace back that Dom was. That would be awfully hard to pass up in my opinion. Unless some beast is available with our late 2nd round pick I look for the Colts to go offensive the first 2-3 picks.

Not totally disagreeing with you, but there isn't going to be anyone at our late 2nd pick defensively that can come in and be an immediate starter and play maker.

I wouldn't quite say that, either.  We have had tons of second to late round guys (and even some FA's) come in and contribute on defense immedieately.  Bethea, Sanders, Peterson, Washington, Mathis, Brackett and others have proved this to be the case. Besides, other than Sanders, I don't think any of these guys were projected to be as effective as they have been.

In fact, I would say its been proven that more defensive picks have come in here and produced faster  than any high offensive draft pick that wasn't a running back.

I think drafting a receiver or a back up running back with our top picks would be a mistake because also.  The reason I say this is because it's taken all the TE/WR we've drafted 2-3 years to really be effective in our passing game. 

BcB

I've made my thoughts known on the board several times regarding this.  The running back pick makes sense right now.  I would prefer it if the Colts go DE if there is one still available IMO and I agree with the trading up to get a 2nd 2nd rounder by using next years 1st. 

The window of opportunity is small for most teams to win Super Bowls.  This season coming could be a great opportunity for the Colts to do it and they need to take advantaged of it while they have the talent base they have performing at a top level.  You don't want to chance next season what could happen so I say draft players that can make an impact now where ever possible.

The two positions that I think could use help the most are the two noted and if there are players there available that Polian thinks fit the Colts scheme I hope they take them.

BcB, I'm thinking that if Marvin is limited in any significant way, now would be the time to take a WR since it takes at least a season or two for them to get comfortable.  The D improved significantly last season with a bunch of really young guys, who are going to get even better, and a ton of injuries.  I said on my pre-draft assessment thread that this team could go at least 12-4 as it stands right now.  I truly believe that. 

That is a good point, Speed.

My thoughts are that Wayne, Gonzales, Clark, and hopefully Hall  would get the majority of the offensive pass attempts over the next few years.  Even if Marvin were to be limited, we have enough talent throughout the rest of the entire offense to more than make up for his decline.  With us doing so well last year without him and Gonzales coming on strong towards the end of the season, I think we already have enough weapons on offense to be successful.

As it stands right now, our recievers are far better than the ones that celebrated a Super Bowl victory this year.  The reason they own rings right now was because of the hard work by the players on the defensive side of the ball.  Now, our defense is good, but we are one or two players away from being a DOMINANT defense.  I think we should get those players and then the onus won't be on the offense to score so many points every game.

Having balance on both sides of the ball takes us from being a very good 12-4 team, to a  true Super Bowl Contender.

And I think the fastest way to make the offense better is to have an improved run game, behind a healthy O-line, and give Peyton better starting position.

Agreed.  I think Addai is good enough to handle 60-70 percent of the carries and that we could get a speed specialist RB or a power running RB in the later rounds to take some of the pressure off of him.  I don't see wasting a high pick there because he's not going to see much of the field behind Addai.  The same thing goes for a WR that we'd draft this year.  He'd never see the field behind all our WR and he wouldn't help this strong core of players win immedeately as much as a regular player on defense.  Planning for the future is great, but with our entire offense starting to get a bit up in age, I think we should be trying to win NOW.

BcB

I don't think we're too far apart on this.  I'd love to have a dominating defense to go along with that offense, but there's just not enough cap space to go around for that.  And I certainly don't want a remake of the 2000 Ravens.  The reason we lost the Divisional game was because of offensive turnovers and a lack of pass rush.  If you don't get pressure on the QB, the Cover-2 breaks down and turns into man coverage.  If Brock and Freeny hadn't of been hurt at the same time, Brock could have played strong end and Mathis could have played weak end, and I think they could have gotten enough pressure to maintain the zone coverage.  On defense, LB is the area I'm most concerned about.  The DB's are perfectly fine for the defensive scheme.  And as a whole, I think one of the best units in the league.

I'd like to see them get an every down back that could split 60/40 with Addai, and the Colts run the ball more.  That would give them a running game at least as good if not better than the Jags.  Unless there is more to the Marvin story, I'm not big on another WR.  If there is more to the story, I'd say they take one early.

Good points guys.  A running back to be interchangeable with Addai would be what the