AP Photo/Phil Coale

Right after the Colts made Philip Wheeler their 3rd round draft choice, I received this email from David Halprin, head writer over at Blogging the Boys telling me that the Colts had "drafted his guy." David is a huge Philip Wheeler fan, and I got the sense he was hoping Dallas might have a shot at him. And why not? At 6'2, 245 pounds, Wheeler made his name in college football as a devastating blitzing LBer. This kind of backer is perfect for the Cowboys, Browns, or even the Patriots.

So, why did a team like Indy, who NEVER blitzes their LBers, draft Philip Wheeler?

At first, I thought they drafted Wheeler with the intention to play him down on the line, like they are doing with Marcus Howard. However, when Bill Polian did his press conference after the draft, he made it clear that Wheeler is staying at LBer. Translation: Tyjuan Hagler better have a monster camp to keep his job.

Leading up to the draft, I did profiles on LBers I thought would fit the Colts' scheme. These were guys who tackled well, played well in zone coverage, hit hard, and had ball hawking skills. Players like Gary Brackett, Freddie Keiaho, and Hagler fit this mold. With Wheeler, when you look at his Scouting Combine report, it's as if Polian totally broke away from the mold:

Adequate worker in the offseason and needs to be monitored in the weight room...Although he can make plays on passes he has a shot at, he lacks natural ball skills or hands...Poor playmaker in zone coverage...

Wheeler is not the second coming of Keith Brooking. He is an efficient blitzer who does a nice job of keeping plays in front of him, but he is too inconsistent in reading keys and his penetration skills might be better suited for the outside. However, he lacks the range to make plays in long pursuit, is a bit stiff in his hips and can be exposed when he comes out of his backpedal. He has some decent value forcing the run, but he fails to use good punch or hand placement vs. tight ends and is marginal in coverage. If some team can be happy with a two-down player, Wheeler might fit their needs, but he's not an every-down contributor based on his play in 2007.

When you read this, you have to wonder if Polian did not accidentally draft the wrong guy. This does not sound like a Cover 2 LBer at all. Yet, the Colts make no bones about it: Wheeler is playing LBer, and, as a 3rd round pick, Wheeler better be starting a LBer soon. Otherwise, this was a wasted pick; pure and simple.

Now, saying all that, there must have been something in Wheeler the Colts saw that led them to think he can play LBer in Indy's Tampa 2 scheme. Wheeler will certainly be the biggest LBer Indy had, but his issues playing in zone coverage better get corrected. Wheeler is an explosive hitter and a dynamic force as a tackler. Maybe, with certain defensive packages, Indy will use Wheeler as a surprise blitz backer.

We will see. Colts.com has good article up on Wheeler here.

With the draft right around the corner, I'm trying to overload on information, and read as much analysis as possible.  I really haven't read too many things, other than here, so I was interested in hearing some different perspectives.  I came across this article by Alex Marvez of Fox Sports, ranking teams on how they've done over the past 5 seasons.

I'll get to his analysis in a second, but I wanted to run down what the Colts have done the past 5 seasons , so we all know what we are comparing against (I really wanted to try out this new table feature, so here goes...):

My analysis first:  The top line of this table as absolutely fantastic, and is not matched by any other team in the NFL.  And just remember, the two previous years first picks were Reggie Wayne and Dwight Freeney.  It is unbelievable to think how good the top of the draft has been for the Colts, and it is all thanks to the Brain Trust of Bill Polian and Tony Dungy (like we all didn't know that already).  Once you get past the first line, however, it is very hit and miss:  Either the guy became a pretty good player, or he was out of the league within 2 years (the exception being Gilbert Gardner, as he is not a good player , and is still in the league).  There are some great late round picks (Mathis, June, Scott, Hagler, Bethea), but a lot of "who the hell is that guy?".  This list also does not include Gary Brackett or Ed Johnson, both undrafted but signed during this time period, and both huge parts of the Colt's defense.

On to the analysis of Marvez.  I'm not quite the homer that BBS is, but I'm still a homer at heart.  Marvez picks the Chargers as having the best drafts over the past 5 years.  I took a quick glance at their draft history, and they have done quite well.  I was all ready to start bashing away, but I don't think I can.  Marvez's opinion on their best pick:

Best pick: Eli Manning. Trading Manning to the New York Giants in 2004 netted fellow quarterback Philip Rivers and draft choices used for Pro Bowl linebacker Shawne Merriman and kicker Nate Kaeding. Rivers reached the AFC Championship game in just his second season as a starter.

They've done this before with Michael Vick.  They traded the pick to the Falcons, and ended up with Tomlinson and Brees, which is obviously a huge upgrade over the locked-up Falcon.  I tend to think he gave the nod to the Chargers based solely on this pick, as they have just as many "who?" players as the Colts do.  They only have one "steal" pick, which was Michael Turner.  Also, their 2005 draft was pretty awesome, with Merriman, Luis Castillo, Vincent Jackson, and Darren Sproles. 

Overall, however, I just don't see how you can rank them higher than the Colts, who Marvez had at #2.  Many of the players drafted over the past 5 years were instrumental to winning the Super Bowl, especially everyone on that top line (excluding Gonzalez, obviously).  Marvez's opinion on the Colt's best pick is a no-brainer:

Best pick: Safety Bob Sanders (2004/second round) was voted the 2007 Defensive Player of the Year.

A couple other comments from the article:

Front office: Polian earned the contract extension he recently received from team owner Jim Irsay. Polian has done an exceptionally good job surrounding quarterback Peyton Manning with talent and identifying players who can shine in Tony Dungy's cover-two defensive system.

Comment: A+. Polian excels at recognizing which picks may ultimately leave in free agency. He then drafts replacements that can be groomed for several seasons beforehand.

I also learned that A.J. Smith, Chargers GM, worked under Polian at a previous job, which explains why they are equally as good at the draft as Polian has been.  Overall, Marvez does a good job ranking all the teams, and has good explanations for each of them.  I'd agree with the Patriots being #3, and the Dolphins being #32.  They let their head coach take a friend's son over the face of a franchise, which is extraordinarily stupid, and cost said head coach his job after 1 win.