Sorry for the podcast fiasco last night. My Internet network at home is crap, and I need to upgrade it. I heard the show went well, with Guru doing the talking and many of you chatting away.

• It looks like Shawne Merriman finally came to his senses and shut it down for 2008. I was about to call him the Stupidest Man in Football for the rest of 2008 if he played with those injuries, but I guess he grew a noddle and decided not to jeopardize his career. It's shameful that the Chargers allowed him to play in the first place.

• More injury news, but this time for our team. Mike Pollak is on the shelf until after the bye week after having "minor" knee surgery. Basically, if he comes back before November, I'll do back flips. I don't trust the Colts when they give timetables for injured players to return. They either lie or don't truly know what they are talking about. Dallas Clark had an MRI, but Bill Polian said on his radio show he doesn't think anything is terribly wrong. Joseph Addai was healthy enough to return to the game Sunday night, but for some stupid reason Dungy held him out.

• The good news in all this injury mess is Jeff Saturday is practicing, and we will see how his strained MCL will react to the practices.

• We had Gonzo stop in and say hi the other day. Like us, he's pretty pissed at his team, and he knows that an 0-2 hole is tough to climb out of. Look for Gonzo and I to trade jabs all week as we lead up to, arguably, the best game on the Sunday schedule.

A final note about the defense: We know this unit is indeed very good, and that they will rebound. The Colts played a brutal schedule last year and still lead the league in scoring defense. Teams are now scheming ways to stop the Bob Sanders Beatdown Defense (aka Cover 3). This is fine. If teams want to put a tackle on Bob Sanders, that means one less person is blocking Freeney, Mathis, Brock, Freddie K, Beathea, or Brackett. They need to step up. These guys are proven and tested, folks. We can doom and gloom all we want, but I think we can afford to have some faith. These guys have come through in spades many times before. They will again.

We'll go bad news first. Bottom line, if Jeff Saturday opts to not have surgery on his strained MCL, he's back in 6 weeks, maybe. If he does opt for surgery, he's back in 11 weeks. That means he'll likely be back in time for the San Diego game on 11/13, or the post Thanksgiving game on 11/30, which is at Cleveland. The issue here is are the Colts willing to carry Saturday on their roster the entire time he's out? This means the Colts would only really have a 52 man active roster. If Indy is willing to carry Saturday, then surgery is the best option. Get it done and get it over with; be back in time for the stretch run, and any potential post-season run. Unlike Shawne Merriman, who is a complete idiot for opting not to have surgery on two torn ligaments in his knee, Jeff Saturday is not dumb. He's in a contract year, and he's 33. Risking further injury means risking the rest of his career.

Indy should put him under the knife and shelf him until Week 11-ish. That's my opinion, anyway.

Now, the positive news. Peyton Manning practiced again Wednesday, and according to Tony Dungy (who was interviewed on ESPN's Hotlist yesterday) Manning looked sharp. The knee did not cause any problems, and Dungy essentially said he would be shocked if Manning did not start against the Bears. When asked if it was a foregone conclusion that Manning would start and play Week One, Dungy said yes.

So there. Manning will play Week One against the Bears, and rookie Steve Justice will likely be his center.

Hopefully, Shawne Merriman's season is NOT over.

Again, it's important to have some perspective in this whole Peyton Manning-bursa-sac-knee-swelling-maybe-kinda-don't-know drama. Based in small part by the reaction at this and other sites, Mike Lombardi posted this over at his National Football Post blog:

We here at the National Football Post are not interested in spreading stories just to get our name out there or to make a splash in the internet world.  We have no interest in that type of reporting.  Each of us has personal experience working in the NFL and we understand how unbridled rumor can become a nuisance for teams.  We have no desire to involve ourselves in the rumor business.  We are in "the fact business" and hope to tell you what is going to occur before it actually happens.  The Manning story is not a rumor, it is based on what I heard directly from someone who has intimate knowledge about the details.  In fact, I received several calls yesterday from other journalists who had the same or similar story, but were unable to get the type of confirmation I received.  So, the Colts can dismiss the story as a blog report if they want — if I were in their PR department, that’s what I would do — but notice that they never actually denied the story.  Moreover, since when were the Colts the ones with the pure intentions?  Didn’t they hide the severity of Marvin Harrison’s injury in 2007?  Let me be clear here: I don’t begrudge them for doing so.  Running an NFL team is a business, and like Apple or Ford you want to guard your secrets as closely as possible.  Why do you think Manning was rehabbing from home?  It is important to the Colts, like it is with many other teams, not to let anyone know their business.  As Vito Corleone told Sonny Corleone in the movie The Godfather, "Never tell anyone outside the family what you are thinking."  That is the creed to which most NFL teams adhere.  So, wrapping up my morning comments on this matter, when we report something here at The National Football Post, it will be based on fact, not hearsay or speculation.  That’s not how we roll here.

Again, I'll give Lombardi props for being straight up and addressing allegations that the story is made up. His up front attitude about it is one of the reasons why I haven't dismissed his story outright, unlike Deshawn Zombie at 18 to 88. He also provides a good reason as to why the Colts would lie to the media and fans about Manning's knee. Is it an excuse? No, of course not. Lying to your fans, who just paid $720 million for your new stadium, would be pretty damn cowardly. Again, not saying the Colts have done this, but if they did Lombardi provides believable reasons why they would.

It's also important to note that the Colts are not the only team dealing with injuries. Tom Brady has had a bad foot injury since the AFC Championship game last year. It lingered all throughout the off-season, and it has prevented him from playing in pre-season. He's also had limited practice. Meanwhile, the Chargers may have been dealt a season-killing blow today learning that defensive ace Shawn Merriman has a torn ligament in his knee. He might be done before 2008 even starts. San Diego's QB Philip Rivers is recovering from his own torn ligament, which he sustained against the Colts in the playoffs last year. Rivers had horrible mobility and pocket nimbleness before the injury. Will a torn ligament make him even less mobile?

Photo: NY Daily News

As you can see, for the other great teams in the AFC, they too are dealing with significant injuries.

One more thing on this: Yesterday we had some people come in here and actually cheer that Manning's knee may still be hurt. Of course, those comments were deleted because I have zero tolerance for @ssholes at Stampede Blue. It's important to stress that it is never, ever acceptable here, or anywhere else in the SB Nation football universe, to cheer when a player is hurt. I personally dislike Shawn Merriman because he's a blowhard idiot and an known cheater. That said, I am not happy he is hurt and I hope his knee issue is not as serious as reported. I hope he is able to play in 2008 at a high level and pain-free.

Same for Philip Rivers, who stinks as a QB in my opinion. I think he talks more than he plays, and the only reason he played well against Indy in the playoffs was because Dwight Freeney wasn't killing him. When Rivers played against Indy early in the 2007, he was terrible. Dwight played much of that game. That said, I hope Rivers is 100% healthy for 2008.

No matter how much I dislike someone, I never wish serious injury (or any injury) on anyone. To do so is just acting petty and pathetic. It has no place here. I know many of you share this sentiment with me. So, I'm pretty much preaching to the choir, but it helps to emphasize certain universal things from time to time.

Kelvin Hayden, drafted in the 2nd round of the 2005 draft, seen winning the Super Bowl.

Much has been written recently about the abortion that was the 2005 NFL Draft. The Vikings releasing DE Erasmus James highlighted yet another first round disappointment from the 2005 draft. James was the 17th overall player selected that year. As AOL Fanhouse's Sportz Assassin points out, the 2005 draft for the Vikings was a "horror show."

Remember that Minnesota traded Randy Moss to the Oakland Raiders for the #7 pick in the draft and linebacker Napoleon Harris. Harris played two years in Minnesota before moving on to Kansas City. That #7 pick turned into WR Troy Williamson, who sucked was less than stellar. Williamson was traded to the Jacksonville Jaguars before last month's draft.

Third round pick Dustin Fox never played a down for the Vikings. Fourth round pick Ciatrick Fason became a goal line back before being release prior to last season. Sixth round pick DT C.J. Mosley played decent in his rookie season ... and was sent to the Jets for QB Brooks Bollinger. Seventh round pick Adrian Ward didn't make the roster.

Wow.

Now, to not totally dump on the Vikings, they have done an excellent job recently with the 2006 and 2007 drafts. Also, the Vikes were not the only team to bomb the 2005 Draft. Most teams did. The 2005 Draft is widely considered one of the worst drafts in recent memory. Take one look at the first round and it induces projectile vomiting if you are a fan of the 49ers, Bengals, Bucs, Bears, Titans, and Vikings. Of the top 10 picks that season, only one (Braylon Edwards) can be seen as a potential gamer.

In fact, if you glance through the entire first round, it is littered with busts, disappointments, and players (like Erasmus James and Cadillac Williams) whose young careers are threatened because of injury. Of the 32 players taken in the first round, I count only 5 who I'd consider worthy of their first round selection. Braylon Edwards (pick #3) is one. Here are the rest:

Dallas DE DeMarcus Ware (pick #11)

Chargers DT Luis Castillo (pick #28)

Pittsburgh TE Heath Miller (pick # 30)

Indianapolis CB Marlin Jackson (pick #29)

I don't include Chargers LBer Shawne Merriman (pick #12) worthy of first round selection. Merriman is a cheater who unapologetically got caught using steroids. This taints everything in his career whether he or Chargers fans like it or not.

A player who is (and should be) listed there is Colts CB Marlin Jackson. Jackson won the nickel corner spot his rookie year. By his second year he had a Super Bowl ring, won in part by his amazing INT at the end of the AFC Championship Game. By year three, he was the starter, playing all 17 games and helping the Colts to one of the best pass defenses in football.

Marlin's partner on the other side of the defense is CB Kelvin Hayden, who (like Marlin) was drafted in 2005. Hayden iced Super Bowl 41 his second year with an INT for a TD, and last year started all 17 games at RCB for Indy. The Colts also drafted back-up safety Matt Giordano in round 4 of the 2005 draft. Giordano is one of the fastest safeties in  football, and he could start on many NFL clubs, including the defending champion NY Giants, who are starved for depth at safety. Indy also drafted starting SAM linebacker Tyjuan Hagler in round 4.

So, while most teams, like the Vikings, Bengals, and Chiefs, had disastrous drafts in 2005, the Colts built much of their starting defensive unit with that 2005 college crop. Three starters and one key reserve player all hail from that draft. That's pretty damn good if the draft crop is good, but when you look at the unmitigated disaster that was the 2005 NFL Draft, getting four high quality players is amazing!

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.