Going into the drafts they thought they had their DT for the next year recently. They drafted Tripplett in the high 2nd round in 2002 and David Pugh in the 5th so they thought they were good going into 2003. They picked up Simon after the 2004 season because the DTs didn’t live up to quite the expectations they would’ve hoped. So going into 2005 they were set. They thought they were set going into 2006 so they didn’t draft one, but Simon retired during training camp so they couldn’t just go out and get who they would want to replace him. That and they were still handcuffed because of his contract and the dead cap hit. They get McFarland from Tampa Bay after trading a second round pick in October of 06, and then he tears a PCL in training camp of 07 which is also after the draft. They used their first pick to get Gonzo, and with the retirement rumors circulating about Glenn, they pick up Ugoh. They also picked up Pitcock because McFarland was 30 and playing out of position, but thought they had a good enough of a rotation to work Pitcock in and develop him. Then they plug in Johnson and start Pitcock and they do well enough so Polian thinks he can address other pending issues. Namely the loss of Utecht and Fletcher, and trying to find Saturday’s replacement. Johnson smokes the dope, Pitcock has a nervous breakdown, and that’s 2008. So they try to get McCargo, but the badluck with the Colts at DT is so bad at this point that it causes McCargo’s disc to bulge before he even joined the team. I’m actually really happy this happened before we got him and gave up a 3rd rounder, at least that’s ONE avoided incident.

Anyway, Polian drafts who he needs, when he needs. This “aversion” to drafting a DT is really unfounded. We just had other pressing needs at other positions at the time, and our DT position was looking pretty good going into the past 7 seasons really. Polian and co. did everything in their power to try to make it work. Some people have this situation at their RB position, some have it at their QB (actually most do), and we had the bad luck strike at our DT position. And the only DTs on the Colts that actually made it to the age where they would get a decent contract were Simon and McFarland. If we had drafted a Warren Sapp or Haynesworth (if their attitudes went with the team), I promise you we would’ve paid for them to stay.

As to why we didn’t draft defense in the high rounds, well, because it didn’t make sense to at the time. Hindsight is 20/20, but we drafted who we needed when we needed them. 2002 was almost entirely defense, only 1 offensive player was drafted, and that was in round 6; 8/9 were defense. In 2003 it was still too early to tell who were busts or not and we had to find the replacement for Pollard, so they took Dallas (which I think we can all agree was a good decision). They took 2 DBs in rounds 2/3, and overall, 5/8 picks were defense. In 2004 we took Bob, Hartsock, then 3 defensive players and a total of 5/9 (one was a kicker) was defense. In 2005 we used our first 3 picks and 6/10 (another kicker was taken) were used on defense. Going into 2006, we were in a financial mess, we were worse off than we are this year, so we had to let James walk. We had no replacement so we took Addai. But then we took Jennings and Keiaho and a total of 4/7 picks were on defense. So going into 2007, Stokely had left and Marvin was getting to the point where, even though he hadn’t, he was likely to start slowing down. So we drafted Gonzo, and I explained the reason we took Ugoh. And then we took 4 defensive players in a row and 6/9 players were on defense. I explained why we took Pollack this year, but then we got Wheeler. This was actually the only year since 2001 where offense had more attention than defense. 2/9 picks were on defense.

Overall, 35/60 picks since 2002 have been on defense. These include:

1st – 2
2nd – 5
3rd – 8
4th – 6
5th – 6
6th – 5
7th – 3

But that’s not the story in its entirety. The Colts traded their 2007 second round pick for McFarland, so essentially that second round pick in 2007 was addressing the DT situation. We lost our 2007 first round pick for Ugoh in 2006 so who knows what would’ve happened with that. And we were willing to give a 3rd round pick for McCargo this year. The Colts gave up a 6th round pick in 06 for a LB. So really, the majority of the Colts draft has been trying to address many situations on the defensive side of the ball. Moreso than offense, however, the players didn’t pan out.

It wasn’t some kind of crazy strategy, it’s really just pointing out that prospects are prospects and badluck is badluck.