but it appears there will be some quality ones available at the end of the 1st. looks like a lot of wayne and gonzo on the outside and clark in the slot, with santi blocking. hoping we pick up a cheap, effective 3rd WR because Roy Hall just cant stay healthy and Pierre is the great unknown.

Polian will sarcastically say, “Oh no! Buster Davis won’t be playing for us! What will we do? His stellar defense helped us in that Thursday night Jacksonville game! Sign it, now.” Or something along those lines.

im totally fine thinking that the colts will pick a LB early in the draft

Seriously, I think Okwo has a strong chance to start.

Wide Receivers and O-linemen in the later rounds. Linebackers and Defensive Tackles in the early rounds. Or BPA as Polian does in.

I’ve said since the beginning of the draft talk that we needed a LB. However, most of the draft talk drifted away from that because at the time, it was assumed that Curry, Maulauga, and Laurinaitis would all be picked well before our pick and then there was a severe dropoff after them. There’s also a specific type of LB for our system that requires a certain skillset. Mainly the ability to cover, react, the ability to intercept, the ability to read routes, and stop the run or blitz. In that order. Most LBs don’t fit that system. The ones that had that as their forte were Laurinaitis and Curry. However, with the results of the combine and the lower than expected performance of Laurinaitis, and the extremely impressive performance of LBs that are scouted as fitting the type of LB we’re looking for (see Jason Phillips), and the depth that was discovered at DT and WR, it made more options available. If you look up any Colts mock draft, or my wishlist to be more accurate, I list Laurinaitis in every single one of them. I also say there are certain people that would have to be off the board for it to make sense, but if those people were, I stated that I would not only be content, but I would be elated to have chosen him.

You also seem to be seriously underestimate the impact of linebackers. You may say that we’re a T2 and the LB isn’t as important as other positions, but I disagree. In fact, an elite LB in a T2 is not only useful, but right up there in terms of importance when it comes to safeties. In a T2, the LBs and the Safeties are the ones with multiple responsibilities. With the design of the system, it’s based on reaction. Your DEs have one job, disrupt the QB. Your CBs have one job, contain their zones and react to balls thrown their way. The DTs have one job, occupy space and attempt to penetrate to free up the DEs to get to the QB and allow for the LBs to react if it’s a run. The LBs and Safeties play both safety and the run. They’re the ones that have to have the ability to cover, the ability to tackle, and the ability to anticipate or react within tiny windows to the play. The LBs in a T2 are one of THE most important positions in stopping the run. Yes, the DTs must be able to hold and penetrate, but even if they do, the ability to stop the run will be nonexistent if you don’t have the LBs that can take advantage of that. You could have an elite DT and still have a crap run game. However, you could have an average DT and if you have an elite LB, you could have a great run defense. In a T2 or cover 2 defense, if your LBs are below average (us) or bad, the DTs not only have to be responsible for stopping the run, demanding constant double teams, but they also have to put pressure on the QB. Not many DTs in the league have the talent to do that.

And I’d like to finish by saying that a reach at any of the positions, be it DT, LB, RB, WR etc.. would be stupid. But skipping over a LB and going for a WR or a DT when the LB is clearly a top prospect and fits our system and a player in the next round wouldn’t be nearly as good is beyond stupid. Especially when there is a significant need at that position. And there is, unless you like the sounds of Wheeler, Brackett, Session, and not much depth or experience behind them if one of them gets hurt.

Is it your opinion that Peyton Manning can’t throw to anyone but first round wide receivers? Because that’s what he has been doing for quite awhile since Reggie and Dallas joined Marvin. Reggie is a 1st rounder, Gonzalez is a 1st rounder, Dallas is a first rounder, Addai is a first rounder, Marvin was a first rounder. To think that Peyton NEEDS a first round wide receiver to be successful, after proving that he could make the likes of Fletcher and Utecht look good when given the opportunity, is lacking a little faith in his abilities. On the flipside, name the last LB we’ve taken above the third round. I’ll help you out, Rob Morris in 2000.

Now name the most dominant T2s in recent memory. Bears and Bucs, correct? Name the best players on their defense. If the names Brooks and Urlacher aren’t one of the first ones that jump to mind, I don’t know where you’ve been. Is it a coincidence that they’re dominant? I seriously don’t think so.

I believe KR is hot on Rashad Jennings…I looked him up, not bad. Not bad at all!

But I disagree. I think any running back suffers behind a bad offensive line. And then there are systems like Denver, that could make Al Davis into a 1,000 yard rusher with their line and scheme.

We had serious line issues last season. It was somewhat masked in the passing game by Peyton’s decisiveness and quick release, but he even commented on being too rushed last season. Fix the line, and I think Addai will be fine. Obviously the Colts thought something of Lance Ball to tender him in a tight salary cap year while letting guys like Freddie go with no offer. So that intrigues me. Also, once he fully recovers, I am very excited about Mike Hart.

We will see what Polian does in the draft, though. If he agrres with you, we will know it then. And his opinion trumps both of ours. I am very curious how we will draft in the first two rounds this year.

Different day. Nobody is arguing with you that we need to address the RB situation, even if only for depth purposes. However, even Richard (the guy that fantasizes he was a RB and does the “Heisman” pose in front of his mirror every morning when he wakes up) realizes that reaching for a player when there are other needs isn’t where you want to be.

I’ll counter your who do we have at RB with who do we have at DT, and who do we have at LB? We don’t have guys that missed time and had production decreases due to injury, not to mention the other RB who had performed well in the same system with a significantly better line, losing production. We have guys that were healthy, and just plain couldn’t do their jobs to the level that we needed it to be. Yes, our offense struggled, but a team should not be completely 100% reliant on their offense. If a defense can’t get off the field and allows opposing teams to take away opportunities from an offense that can’t stay on the field, you end up with crap. Which is what was happening.

So what, according to you, would you do if Moreno, Wells, McCoy were off the board and Peria Jerry, Laurinaitis, Evander Hood were there? Are you saying we should pull someone that stands a strong chance of being there or multiple people with their skillsets, ability, and athleticism would be available in the 2nd to be our 1st round pick?

Here’s a scenario. Say Moreno, Jerry, Laurinaitis, are all there at 27. I wouldn’t even think twice when I chose Jerry. I wouldn’t think twice if Jerry was gone and took Moreno over Laurinaitis. However, if there was a tackle of their caliber at 27, I’d take him over Moreno without a second thought.

BPA while addressing a need. Otherwise you’re saying the only problem with our team is at RB, at that’s seriously misguided. The Super Bowls will not be engraved during training camp if we draft Shonn Greene or Donald Brown in the first round.