An interesting thing happened last week: A guy from Santa Claus, IN (not far from where I was born) was traded to the Chicago Bears in exchange for Chicago's first round pick, along with other picks. This move sent shock waves through the NFL, and left many a mock draft in shambles. Since I'm one of the editors at Mocking The Draft, I huddled with Mocking Dan and we decided we were going to allow writers to re-pick from #18 onward. We stripped Chicago of their first round pick (originally, WR Jeremy Maclin) and gave it to TheSportsGuru at Mile High Report. Then, over the past weekend, we allowed everyone to re-pick (if they wanted). Th deal was everything had to be settled by Sunday. Otherwise, Mocking Dan and I would need to make picks for people.

But the Cutler trade was not the only bit of news to rock MockDraft Land. The alleged reports of failed drug tests by certain college players scared off some of our writers from drafting them. Thus, when Minnesota was offered the chance to re-pick at #22, they (smartly) passed on Percy Harvin and picked USC QB Mark Sanchez. Personally, I think my write-up on Sanchez swayed Gonzo. Or, maybe he re-watched clips of his new veteran QB impersonating a helicopter last year.

As many of you know, Sanchez was who I picked at #27 for the Colts, pre-Cutler trade. With Sanchez gone this time around, my selection was pretty easy to make: DT Evander "Ziggy" Hood, DT, Missouri.

Now, I'm sure everyone here is as satisfied with the updated Hood pick as they were dissatisfied with the Sanchez one. One thing I made clear in my Sanchez write-up is that the Colts (and Bill Polian) do not pass up top talent when it simply falls into their lap. We saw this in 2001. Everyone screamed GET A DT! and Polian drafted some WR named Reggie Wayne. So, when a franchise-caliber QB falls all the way to #27, I guaran-friggin-tee you that Polian will draft him. You might not like it. You might not agree. Bill Polian really doesn't give a sh*t.

And sorry, but all the negative things I read people writing about Sanchez were just silly nonsense. I'm no USC fan. Far from it. But, after watching several USC games, looking at Sanchez's Combine numbers, and gauging impressions based on his workouts, the guy is going to be a top flight QB in this league provided he lands on a team with a good support system. Talented, young QBs only go as far as their coaches and organization allow them. It's no coincidence that busts like Tom Couch, David Carr, and Joey Harrington were drafted by bad organizations who employed incompetent coaches. Compare this with Peyton Manning, Donovan McNabb, and Eli Manning. Great QBs who were drafted by quality organizations who employed good coaches.

So, take a smart, gifted kid like Sanchez and place him in the Colts environment, and brother, you've got yourself yet another franchise QB wearing the blue shoe. You simply do not pass that up, not matter what DT is out there.

It's interesting in that what I saw after I made the Sanchez pick was most non-Colts fans really admired and liked the pick. From a Giants fan:

This has been the best pick in the Mock so far

however i think that there is absolutely no way he drops this far… Sanchez is a stud and this is a very Polian like move. Obviously with Jerry off the board there is no first round quality DT on the board that fits the Colts system. Very good call BigBlueShoe.

However, while some Colts fans saw merit in the pick, most absolutely hated it. From metal militia:

There is no way I would take Sanchez even if he were available. Take hood or one of the top receivers available, QB will be a need, but we can still wait at least another 2 or 3 years before we go after a top prospect.

In the end, everyone here was made happy. I got to select Evander "Ziggy" Hood. Mind you, in the real draft, I do not expect Sanchez or Hood to fall to Indy at pick #27. Both those guys will be gone in the top 15, easy. QBs and lineman are the building blocks of teams. Way too much emphasis is placed on WRs and RBs.

As of now, the SB Nation Writers Mock Draft is updated and soldiering ahead. We're in the second round, with Detroit making the 33rd pick. Now, I have to think about who I can take in round 2. With DT taken care of, maybe NOW you'd like it if I took a QB. Nate Davis, anyone?

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?

72%

Yes, Forte is a stud

66 votes

20%

Yes, but only because Avril, Johnson, and Carlson were already drafted

19 votes

6%

No, the Colts need pass rushers

6 votes

91 votes | Poll has closed