Contrary to what some readers may think, former-Stampede Blue writer Laura Calaway and I get along quite well. I highly recommend you following her on Twitter, and her write-ups on Coltzilla are some of my favorites.
Speaking of Laura on Twitter, she had this recent update which caught my attention:
Also heard Adam Schein "quote" Bill Polian that he (Polian) "whiffed" on Jerry Hughes. I don't remember that he said THAT.
Now, this is interesting.
Like Laura, I'm pretty sure Bill did not say the team 'whiffed' on Hughes if Adam is referring to this episode of the Bill Polian Show. In that episode, the Colts president essentially said he made a mistake not drafting Indiana left tackle Rodger Saffold with the 31st pick in the 2010 NFL Draft. But, he never said the team 'whiffed' on Hughes, despite the rather persistent impression that the team did indeed whiff on Hughes.
And despite what nice folks like Kent Sterling keep saying, Jerry Hughes NOT drafted as a 'project' player. We've quoted Bill Polian numerous times saying the team expected Hughes to be the club's 'third rusher' in 2010. Polian is quoted saying the club expected Hughes to make an immediate impact.
He had six total tackles in 2010, and was useless both on defense and as a special teams player. That's not a 'project' player. That's a 'crappy' player.
I didn't listen to Schein's show today, but we'll do some follow-up to see if Schein was quoting another interview, or if he was misquoting Polian from his Dec. 6th show. If Polian did indeed say the team 'whiffed' on Hughes, that's a pretty big slap across Jerry's face.
It would also be yet another first round mistake for Bill and his son, Colts GM Chris Polian. The only difference is this one would then be publicly admitted.