Mocking the Draft's head writer and New Era Scouting god Matt Miller gave us a "B" for drafting Matt Forte' with the 59th pick in the 2008 SB Nation Mock Draft. Here's Matt's comments:

An interesting, and surprising, pick from Indianapolis. The Kenton Keith arrest record is dangerously exciting, and the team has shown before their belief in a two-back set. The Colts have so few needs that it is hard to argue with this pick. Forte' is a good player, a productive running back with size and speed. He's a versatile player and a great locker room guy. I would have went for Jamaal Charles here, or Ray Rice, but the pick of a high character senior running back is hard to discredit.

As my title suggests, I would have preferred he gives us a "C" so I could pull out my favorite Bill Polian quote of all time:

Fine. Give us a C every year, and we'll just keep making the playoffs.

Unfortunately, Matt is a smart guy and realizes that giving us a "C" for drafting Forte' would not work. I agree though with Shake n Bake's counter to Matt's suggestion that Jamaal Charles or Ray Rice are better than Forte':

Good pass blocking is required to be a Colts RB. Edge and Addai are two of the best in that and Dom Rhodes was very good as well. The passing game is such a big part of what the Colts do that a RB can’t be a liability there, blocking or catching.

Charles isn’t a good blocker and Rice tries, but can’t overcome his size disadvantage. Forte is a great blocker on the other hand.

Rice also runs bad routes, and Charles has SERIOUS fumble problems. I don't know how you can rank a guy with fumble problems higher than Matt Forte', but I'm not a scout. The important thing is we got the guy we wanted, and if the Colts get this guy on draft day, we will all be more than happy.

Well, it looks like the Dolphins and the Jaguars made Shake n Bake's decision easy. At pick #59, Shake made the obvious (and best) choice, Matt Forte. Here's Shake's explanation why he chose Forte:

Joseph Addai performs best in a RB tandem, he split time his whole college career and the Colts won the Super Bowl while pairing him with Dom Rhodes. Unfortunately Kenton Keith doesn't have the hands to play for the Colts as shown by the multiple dump-off that he not only couldn't catch, but several times tipped into the air, causing interceptions. A Colts RB needs to block well, catch the ball out of the backfield, not fumble and be a good runner, in that order. Three out of four isn't good enough. Especially when it's job #2 that is their weakness.

Matt Forte can do all four. He's a great blocker, so much so he can lead block for Addai in a 2 RB set in addition to his outstanding pass blocking. He wasn't a huge receiving threat, but showed good hands and route running. He never had fumble problems. As a runner his pounding style will contrast the smaller Addai. Forte is a high character guy and a tremendously hard worker. Forte's weakness is a lack of big play explosiveness, a weakness that the Colts don't mind in a RB and shared by Addai and a post knee injury Edge James. Forte gives the Colts the flexibility they lose with Utecht's departure. Without another RB, TE or WR the Colts are locked into a Marvin, Wayne, Clark, Gonzalez and Addai lineup with no depth behind them.

You can read the rest of Shake's write-up, and my take, over at Mocking the Draft. With less than four days to go to the draft, SB Nation will end its mock draft right on time with a very solid prognostication of how the draft could go. Damn fine job this year by TheSportsGuru, BrianG, and Matt Miller. They organized this thing damn near to perfection. Also, a special thanks to Shake n Bake for taking the initiative to draft for the Colts this year, and for creating a very good write-up.

Poll

Did Shake n Bake make the right choice?

• Yes, Forte is a stud
• Yes, but only because Avril, Johnson, and Carlson were already drafted
• No, the Colts need pass rushers

  89 votes | Results

We are down to the wire folks; down to the nitty-gritty. With just three picks to go until the SB Nation Mock Draft gets to #59, players like Chris Johnson, Trevor Laws, Earl Bennett, and now John Carlson are all gone. This leaves our community rep in the mock draft, Shake n Bake, in a bit of a pickle (hehe, love that stupid phrase).

Ok, though I am not the person charged with the responsibility for making this pick (ohthankyouthankyouGod), I feel it is my duty to help Shake get gauge what the community wants. I think we all agree that if Matt Forte is still there at #59, Shake's job is easy. We all like Forte, and so do the Colts. But what about some of the other players? Click the flip to find out more.

Poll

If Matt Forte is gone at pick #59 in the SB Nation Mock Draft, who should Shake n Bake pick?

• TE Dustin Keller, Purdue
• LB Xavier Adibi, VA Tech
• DT Lawrence Jackson, USC
• TE Fred Davis, USC
• TE Marcellus Bennett, Texas A & M
• WR Early Doucet, LSU
• Oh screw it! Reach for DE Marcus Howard, Georgia

  117 votes | Results

Continue reading this post »

His forte is to run yo ass over.

So far in our Who the hell will they draft 2008 series, we've profiled 3 offensive linemen, 3 defensive ends, 1 defensive tackle, 1 tight end, 1 wide receiver, and 1 running back. With the draft 4 weeks away, that gives us plenty of time to round out the positions of need with several quality players who fit what the Colts are looking for. Since we've spent so much time profiling linemen on both sides of the ball, I thought it time to go back to one of the "skill" positions; in particular runningback.

We profiled Chris Johnson several weeks ago, and DraftTek.com still thinks he will fall to the Colts in the second round. I'm not so sure. If he does, it is likely because another team (like Philly) thought more highly of Tulane's Matt Forté. Forte is a name that has popped up on several Colts mock drafts, and the more you look at him the more likely he could get picked with Indy's second round pick.

Yep, that's right. It's very possible Forté will get picked late in the second round by the Colts, despite Indy's need for pass rushers and WRs.

Before you blow a gasket and scream, "WE NEED PRESSURE ON THE QB, NOT ANOTHER FRIGGIN' RB! POLIAN, DO SOMETHING!" hear me out and listen to reason. Despite all the praise Tony Dungy heaps on Kenton Keith, we all know the guy simply didn't get it done last year. Tossing the ball to K2 is like throwing a racket ball at a trampoline. The ball ricochets all over the place, and eventually gets intercepted.

RBs in the modern NFL have got to catch the ball. Running well is simply not enough anymore, which is why a guy like Matt Forté is considered "one of the hottest names in the 2008 NFL Draft class." Forté was a solid contributor during his first few years at Tulane, but it was his senior year when he absolutely exploded onto the scene and went out of his mind. Forté scored an astounding 23 rushing TDs in 2007 and averaged nearly 6 yards a carry. At one point during the college season, he ran for over 200 yards in five straight games. Allow me a moment to say "HOLY F*&KING SH*T! THAT'S ONE HELLUVA BACK!"

We all know that adding a compliment to Joseph Addai is important for Indy's offense to thrive. The 2006 offense was money in the red zones, scoring more TDs there than anyone else. Last year, the Colts offense left a lot of TDs out there, opting for FGs far too often than we are used to. Injuries are part of the reason, but another part was not having another RB option to punch the ball in the endzone and catch TDs out of the backfield. Much like Chris Johnson, drafting Forté would add a totally new dimension to the Colts offense. Unlike Chris Johnson, the new dimension would be something other than speed.

Matt Forté is a big man, and unlike RBs like Reggie Bush he actively looks to make contact. And, when he does make contact, he hurts the tackler more so than the tackler hurts him. Forté is 6'2 and 217 pounds, but unlike other tall RBs who run too high, Forté has a low center of gravity. He has powerful legs and gets down low when running the football:

Far too many tall backs run too high, opening them up to injury and fumbles when small LBers like Gary Brackett whack them. Forté is a different back. A big back with strong legs able to get low is a nightmare for LBers and safeties. Add to this Forte's excellent ball skills: Automatically, Tony Dungy loves him. The fastest way to get yourself cut in Indy is to fumble the football. So, to re-cap quickly, Forté is a strong runner who gets low, looks for contact, and never fumbles. We can also add that he is a strong and willing blocker. In fact, he can lead block! Where as someone like Chris Johnson would add speed and elusiveness to the Colts offense, a guy like Forté would add power and toughness. Backs in Indy's offense have to block well, and Forté's ability to pass block, and his willingness to run block, would add a new dimension to Indy's offense. With Forté, you could have both him and Addai on the field at the same time, and use Addai as a receiver split out on certain downs. Forte can also catch the ball out of the backfield, though he was not used much as a receiver in college.

The negatives I read about Forté are mixed. NFL Draft Countdown lists his negatives as:

However, New Era Scouting seems to refute these negatives: The one injury referenced was a season-ending injury his junior year. Once again, he followed-up that year by scoring 23 friggin' rushing TDs! So, I'm a little confused by NFL Draft Countdown's "durability concerns." The final element of Matt Forté's profile is his personality. We've already read that his motor is non-stop. Forte's is also known as a gym rat, consistently working out and getting his body strong. His leadership skills are also worth mentioning, but they are not the phony ra-ra kind of leadership we are used to seeing: Forté is known as a soft-spoken, high-character guy who, if he played at USC or LSU, would have won the Heisman trophy this past year. Indeed, when you scour the Internet and read articles about Forté, it is very rare you read anything negative about the guy. He is a proto-typical Colts running back, able to do it all and take pride in doing it.

I know the Colts have other needs, but I would not be surprised (or disappointed) if Matt Forté were taken with Indy's first pick in the draft.

For more insight into Matt Forté, check out this Tulane sports blog: Wave Sports.