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I saw this over at Pats Pulpit regarding the two teams "better" than the Patriots in 2007, and nearly peed my pants:

The New York Giants earned bragging rights and will forever be known as the team that stopped the juggernaut from New England.  The second team is an unhealthy Colts.  I hate winning in that situation because there's always a question mark in my mind.

This is the first time I've seen a Pats fan acknowledge something we talked about here all throughout 2007: If Indy were healthy in 2007, they would have made New England 17-1, and not 18-1. But, like anything else, injuries are what they are. New England kept their guys healthy and Indy didn't. Them's the breaks. The Pats had the same injury problem in 2005, and got as far into the playoffs as the Colts did in 2007.

This brings me to the all important question: Did Indy do enough to get better?

NFL.com has a fan ranking up, allowing you to rank all 32 teams. NFL Network had some writers on recently, and each listed their top 5 teams right now. What was interesting is each had the same teams n the top 5 (Indianapolis, New England, NY Giants, San Diego, and Dallas). Of course, this means absolutely nothing, but it is interesting to see how teams view the Colts. Remember, last season everyone anointed the Patriots world champs before nary a game was played because the Patriots had made several player moves to get Randy Moss, Adalius Thomas, Wes Welker, and Sammy Morris. Meanwhile, the Colts kept on the same path they always do, brought back the same playmakers that dominated the 2006 playoffs, and most ranked New England ahead.

This year, the Patriots have done very little to improve their roster. They've lost most of their secondary to free agency, including (arguably) their best player on defense, Assante Samuel. Dante Stallworth is gone, and Sammy Morris' health is in doubt. The Colts, meanwhile, have gotten healthy, added pass rushing depth through the draft, and signed Dominic Rhodes.

It seems that Indy has improved itself while teams like New England haven't. Even the Chargers, who beat the Colts twice last season in close games, have done little in free agency and have significant injury concerns of their own (Philip Rivers, LT, Antonio Gates). San Diego also lost the "Colts Killer" (Michael Turner) to free agency.

The Colts sport one of the youngest teams in football. Peyton Manning, Bob Sanders, Reggie Wayne, and Dallas Clark are in the primes of their careers. Tony Ugoh, Anthony Gonzalez, Freddie Keiaho, and Quinn Pitcock look poised to make big leaps in 2008 after strong 2007 seasons. Marvin Harrison, Dwight Freeney, and Robert Mathis are expected back 100%. With Dom Rhodes, Joseph Addai, and rookie Mike Hart, Indy has a very potent running back group, and with the draft they beefed up the o-line.

It seems, in mid-May, that this team is ready to make another run. Then again, championships are not won in mid-May. Just ask that Patriots.

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As we turn away from glorious failures like "Spygate" (btw, if you want to read a great article on Spygate, read PatsPulpit; and no, I'm not kidding) I can now turn my attention back to what is important: The 2008 Colts roster.

This is what we think we know: Marvin Harrison will be healthy in time for the regular season opener against the Bears. This has been said by Dungy, Polian, and Irsay. However, we heard this song and dance all last season, and the reality is Harrison should have been IRed and not brought back for the San Diego playoff game. So, forgive us Colts management if we fans are cynical of your medical reports.

But, let's assume, just for a moment, that Marvin is 100% healthy and back to the Marvin we know and love. Remember, prior to the knee injury against the Bucs, Marvin was doing his thing even at age 35. Supposedly, he has lost none of his speed and quickness, and he has the body fat of a cadaver. So, let's assume he's 100% and a-okay. How does this affect the Colts offense?

Well, for starters, we will see Anthony Gonzalez exclusively in the 3 WR, slot position. I'm not sure how Gonzo will work in this seeing as he struggled last season, and it wasn't until Marvin went down that he began play better. That might just have been the standard rookie jitters, and maybe, with experience now under his belt, he will be more comfortable working the slot. If he is, and if Marvin is healthy, the Colts will again have the best WR corps in football.

Yes, better than New England.

With rookie Jacob Tamme likely to get several snaps playing as an H-Back, we could see several new looks for the offense. Dallas Clark will likely play on the line and in the slot. They'll probably move Gonzo around, playing slot or outside. Tamme will likely play off the line, or run routes from the backfield. That's a lot of speed and playmaking ability attacking a defense from multiple angles.

And then, there is Addai and Rhodes. Unlike Kenton Keith, these two guys can actually catch a dump off pass. And when they receive the pass, they can do special things with it.

Look for the Colts to attack opposing defenses with more weapons than last season. Depth and playmaking ability were addressed this off-season, and I'm getting antsy so see it all come together in 2008.

There have been some great analysis stories done already by BBS and by Bullard47 on the draft, so I'll try to touch on some things these guys didn't talk about.  By the way, you'll notice my new avatar next to my name.  It was submitted by the aforementioned Bullard47 here.  He'll get to give us his excellent opinion on the main page for a day.  The picture is fantastic, as I wasn't expecting the Golden Dome to be worked in.

Back to the draft...I think we got excellent value for almost every pick we made.  Pollak seems to be a great steal for Polian and Co. at #59.  The crop of Interior Lineman wasn't very good up top this year, with Brandon Albert and Chilo Rachal as the only 2 Interior Lineman to get picked before Pollak.  He seems very excited to be joining the Colts (who wouldn't?), and said this yesterday:

"I couldn't have asked for a better way for it to work out," said Pollak, who has a chance at the first string because Indianapolis lost Jake Scott in free agency. "I'll get to learn from all of the older guys. When I spoke with coach (Tony) Dungy and (general manager Bill Polian), they told me they felt that my game was perfect for what they have there."

We picked 2 Tight Ends, and 1 WR, which I thought we'd do.  We really only had 2 TE in Clark and Fletcher, and we are dangerously thin at WR, especially with the health of Harrison still up in the air.  I think the thought is that if either Marvin isn't back yet, or one of the main 3 WR gets hurt, Clark can step in and play the slot receiver.  I'm also really excited to have a speedster to return punts and kicks in Pierre Garcon.  Watching the video posted below gets me excited.  I really can't remember the last guy the Colts had that, when he caught the ball on a return, you expected him to take it to the house.  I hope Garcon makes me feel that way. 

As much as it pains me to say as an ND grad, I'm very glad Mike Hart fell into our laps at pick 202.  Running backs always seem to make an immediate impact in the NFL, and I definitely see Hart playing a big role in 2008.  He NEVER fumbles the ball .  Maybe he can teach KK how to hold onto it.  Michigan has always loved running the slow progressin g, off tackle run, and Hart always seemed to find a sliver of daylight and burst through, just like Addai does now.  This will be a great asset running the stretch play.  He's used to long handoffs and running outside off-tackle, or further.  He's a great fit.

We all loved the Marcus Howard  pick.  We all know everything about him.  Great pick, especially for the 5th round.  I also liked the Philip Wheeler selection.  He is a head hunter, much like #21.  Some people mentioned we may move him to DE, which makes some sense, although he's never played on the DL before.  For right now, he seems like a 3rd down pass rusher, most likely as a 5th DL.  We'll have to see what happens in training camp.

I have to confess:  in the poll below, I gave the Colts a C, but only because Polian loves those C grades.  Overall I give the Colts a B+.  They back filled areas of need, but seemed to go too heavy at one certain position.  Also, without a first round pick, there doesn't seem to be, for this moment in time, that superstar pick.  Hopefully one of these guys becomes that.  Great job by the Polian, Coach Dungy, and the rest of the staff!

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.