Congratulations to BlueVol03 and shake n bake , on being co-winners of the Mock Draft Challenge #1. Each of you "mocked" 4 correctly in the 1st round. Unfortunately, none of the 2nd round picks worked out, but it would be a hard draft to do well in, considering all of the trades.
As for the Colts Mock Drafts, there were only 8 entries... and you managed to get a whopping zero picks correct. The only player drafted from any of our boards was Marcus Howard, and most people had him going in round 3.
Honestly, I couldn't be more disappointed. I felt I was ready for this year. BigBlueShoe, shake n bake, and a ton of others on this site provided access to more information on prospects than I've ever taken the time to research. We analyzed our needs, came up with draft boards, researched what other teams would do and what do we come up with? Nothing... That's why we write about football, and Bill Polian runs the draft room. He is better than us.
I think it also illustrates a key reason for the rising popularity of the NFL draft and the insane increase in the amount of coverage. No matter what the "experts" say, and no matter how much you analyze the information available... you still have no idea what's going to happen in the draft. There are always surprises, and once you get past the first pick or two... usually anything can happen.
Regarding my thoughts on the draft... we had some very key players fall to us in the later rounds, and that's how you win championships. As BigBlueShoe discussed earlier , the Colts did an excellent job of shoring up some key areas that have been our downfall in recent years. A lack of depth along the offensive line, mainly due to injury... a backup RB who can block AND catch... and another guy who can rush the passer. It's also possible that we found someone who can add some depth to the WR corps, along with our potential kick/punt returner for 2008. If we can get Roy Hall to progress this year, I'd like to see some new formations so Peyton can utilize all of his weapons.
I personally want to thank everyone who posted here on draft day. It was great getting to live blog with all the contributers and discussing the picks. Now we get to move to the offseason summer school program.