It has often been said that you have to wait 2-3 years to judge a teams draft class and I think that is fair. Sometimes guys struggle early or maybe they spend a year or two on the bench before they see significant playing time. We therefore, don't know how good this draft was but we do know a few things thus far.
The Colts really want to get bigger and stronger on defense. We already know this by the fact that they wanted bigger and stronger LB's. That's why the let guys like Kreddie K go, but the additions of Moala and Taylor firmly demonstrate this desire to get bigger and stronger. The type of defense the Colts have run for awhile works when our offense scores early and often thus forcing teams into throwing against our edge rushers and zone coverages. The problem was when teams kept the game close by playing the Jeff Fisher style "run, run, run" game against us. The Colts answer to this is to get bigger and run a different front 4 against people that try and do that. If teams play that style then they are doing to see this...
- LDE-Moala
- DT- Terrance Taylor
- DT-Antonio Johnson
- RDE-Raheem Brock
Now try running against that front 4! Then when we get them into passing situations we put Freeney and Mathis in there. What this does is gives us more flexibility against teams that want to run different offensive styles against us to negate our speed and keep our offense off the field.
Also, the additions of Donald Brown and Austin Collie help our offense out. Brown is a quick, straight ahead runner. A very "north-south" style. You won't see him dancing in the backfield. The fact that he fell to the Colts was a miracle. Now I know there is talk about Brown being a 1B or whatever else people say, but the bottom line is the best man will get the most carries. If Addai is healthy and starts running well again then that's great because we now have two really good RB's. That will keep both Brown and Addai healthier and fresher. However, if Addai struggles and Brown does well then Brown will see more carries particularly later into the year. The Colts won't run things like John Fox did in Carolina were he made DeAngelo Williams sit the bench in place of DeShaun Foster because Foster was "the veteran." That's a stupid and ineffective way to run things. If you play well then you get carries and if you struggle you get less carries. Personally I think this might end up looking like Rhodes/Addai in 2006. Either way it's a win-win situation for the Colts. Drafting a guy like Brown just really helps the entire offense.
As for Collie I feel that we got good value when we drafted him. This is a guy that will help out in the slot and can be coached up as you often have to do with all college WR's. Collie also gives depth at the WR position, but hey (similiar to Addai/Brown) if Roy Hall is better in training camp (and stays healthy!) then maybe he will get more playing time while Collie learns and studies for a year. Either way it works out well for the Colts.