Colts passed on making a GREAT Oline for a long time to come

[TigerColt]

Think they tried to address OL which is huge need.  Still think we should have taking Whitehair in the 2nd and then Green in the 3rd.  

We had the chance to get Kelly AND Whitehair and we passed?  SMH.  I do like Greens potential but you had the chance for a sure fire long term starter and settle the OL for 10 years for someone that will need to be coached up (Pagano's own words). 

 

BTW, the Bears already cut their guard to make room for Whitehair which was the 18th rated guard in the league and known for his pass blocking.

[Archer]

Somehow, I think we did enough to make our line great.  Four picks, including the 1st and 3rd, represents a significant investment.  Of course, you obviously were very high on Whitehair, which is why you're understandably disappointed.  Sort of how I felt about OLB Tyrone Holmes of Montana in the middle rounds.  For what it's worth, I was in love with Joe Haeg in the middle rounds to add depth as a ZBS-type OG that can also be a swing OT.  I'd keep my eyes on him at RG...

[Everyone]

Whitehair isn't a surefire prospect and from what I read, Green wouldn't have lasted til the 3rd. I'm very happy with this draft class.  I have a lot of hope in UDFA Maggitt if he gets back to his 2014 form but pass rush will have to be addressed next draft which is full of them.

[indyagent17]

Greene, was a mid to low 2nd round prospect. I surprised he was there at 59.

So that is not a reach. 

 

We missed on Whitehair by one pick so that is tough luck but Clark was the next best choice

[superrep1967]

16 minutes ago, Everyone said:

Whitehair isn't a surefire prospect and from what I read, Green wouldn't have lasted til the 3rd. I'm very happy with this draft class.  I have a lot of hope in UDFA Maggitt if he gets back to his 2014 form but pass rush will have to be addressed next draft which is full of them.

Yes you are correct. We have to address the pass rush next draft without a doubt. Because Mathis is at the end of his career and bringing in a big time pass rusher in free agent is extremely expensive and we can't afford it with Luck's new contract. 

[bababooey]

Whitehair literally went one pick before ours but it's not like Clark is horrible. Also, it's the bears. They made Cutler a multi multi millionaire. Slauson is decent but it's not like he's amazing as the Bears aren't his first team. Heck maybe if we have money available after the Luck contract we could go for him for a modest deal. Would be better than Herremans.

[crazycolt1]

2 hours ago, cjrichard said:

Think they tried to address OL which is huge need.  Still think we should have taking Whitehair in the 2nd and then Green in the 3rd.  

We had the chance to get Kelly AND Whitehair and we passed?  SMH.  I do like Greens potential but you had the chance for a sure fire long term starter and settle the OL for 10 years for someone that will need to be coached up (Pagano's own words). 

 

BTW, the Bears already cut their guard to make room for Whitehair which was the 18th rated guard in the league and known for his pass blocking.

Green more than likely would not have been there in the third round. Plus you have no clue as how good this line is going to be. As far as the Bears cutting their guard it could have been a cap move. Not too many teams cut a good guard and insert a rookie before the season even starts.

[BlueShoe]

3 hours ago, cjrichard said:

Think they tried to address OL which is huge need.  Still think we should have taking Whitehair in the 2nd and then Green in the 3rd.  

We had the chance to get Kelly AND Whitehair and we passed?  SMH.  I do like Greens potential but you had the chance for a sure fire long term starter and settle the OL for 10 years for someone that will need to be coached up (Pagano's own words). 

 

BTW, the Bears already cut their guard to make room for Whitehair which was the 18th rated guard in the league and known for his pass blocking.

 

I like Whitehair, but if you ask me to choose between him and Clark straight-up, then I am choosing Clark.

 

I know that was not the question, but it is how the board fell. I would have taken Clark in the second round.

 

The crazy thing about all of this is - all of our first three picks were possible first round draft picks. We got lucky this was such a deep O-Linemen draft. 

 

Grigson nailed this draft, and there is nothing for any of us to be upset about. If someone wants to rag on the Morrison pick then they might have a beef. I did not get that one, but I do have the patience to wait and see it through.

[mjgoodsman]

With Luck resigning he is our #1 player. I like the dedication on trying to keep him clean and upright. His protection is paramount for us to get to the promise land. I applaud Irsay for his ability to get Grigson and Pagano to be co-workers and not adversaries.

[Myles]

I also would have liked to see Whitehair instead of Green.

 

Still a good draft. 

[bababooey]

1 minute ago, Myles said:

I also would have liked to see Whitehair instead of Green.

 

Still a good draft. 

Considering he fell all the way to one pick before us in the third and we would have had to give another pick to move up one spot to grab Whitehair, I'll live with Clark and Green for now.

[jvan1973]

7 minutes ago, bababooey said:

Considering he fell all the way to one pick before us in the third and we would have had to give another pick to move up one spot to grab Whitehair, I'll live with Clark and Green for now.

One pick before us in the second

[OffensivelyPC]

13 minutes ago, jvan1973 said:

One pick before us in the second

After we traded back.

[jvan1973]

Just now, OffensivelyPC said:

After we traded back.

Right..  in the post I quoted he said one pick before us in the third

[AZColt11]

I don't know about you but I slept good last night.  I'm good with the draft.

[Jason_]

4 hours ago, cjrichard said:

Think they tried to address OL which is huge need.  Still think we should have taking Whitehair in the 2nd and then Green in the 3rd.  

We had the chance to get Kelly AND Whitehair and we passed?  SMH.  I do like Greens potential but you had the chance for a sure fire long term starter and settle the OL for 10 years for someone that will need to be coached up (Pagano's own words). 

 

BTW, the Bears already cut their guard to make room for Whitehair which was the 18th rated guard in the league and known for his pass blocking.

 

so without Whitehair there is no way for the Colts to have a GREAT oline? 

 

 

 

They drafted 4 offensive linemen...just because they didn't draft the one guy that YOU wanted them to draft doesn't mean the Colts can't have a GREAT oline.

[Derakynn]

Dear god. 

[TigerColt]

I am not going by MY opinion on draft rankings.  I let the guys that do it all day do that.  According to MOST experts, Whitehair was the best OG in the draft and could play at any position (something the Colts value).  I'm not saying i dont like Green as a player, but his ratings were all over the board and it was worth a risk to wait until the third.  Pagano himself said he will need to be "coached up".  Not something i want to hear about a second round pick.

 

I am happy that we address the OL and i trust the Colts staff feels good with the draft.  I just hope they were right to trade down and pass on Whitehair.

 

Joseph

  

[OffensivelyPC]

24 minutes ago, jvan1973 said:

Right..  in the post I quoted he said one pick before us in the third

I gotcha, was just adding in one more relevant fact for the group is all.  Not correcting you or anything.  Just used your post since it was the factually accurate one.

[lollygagger8]

Colts took 4 O-linemen in one draft......how is that passing on making a great oline for a long time to come? 

 

[jvan1973]

7 minutes ago, cjrichard said:

I am not going by MY opinion on draft rankings.  I let the guys that do it all day do that.  According to MOST experts, Whitehair was the best OG in the draft and could play at any position (something the Colts value).  I'm not saying i dont like Green as a player, but his ratings were all over the board and it was worth a risk to wait until the third.  Pagano himself said he will need to be "coached up".  Not something i want to hear about a second round pick.

 

I am happy that we address the OL and i trust the Colts staff feels good with the draft.  I just hope they were right to trade down and pass on Whitehair.

 

Joseph

  

Teams don't rank players by what the media thinks.      Whitehair was the concensus best guard in the draft.    He was picked 56th overall.  Joshua Garnett was picked 28th overall.  Just because Mel says something doesn't make it the same think teams think

[TigerColt]

 

3 minutes ago, lollygagger8 said:

Colts took 4 O-linemen in one draft......how is that passing on making a great oline for a long time to come?

 

Colts would have had a much better CHANCE (not guaranteed) if they picked Whitehair according to most experts.  As i said before, i am happy that they are trying to address the line.  4 out of seven picks is a pretty heavy investment. 

 

Joseph

[jvan1973]

6 minutes ago, cjrichard said:

 

Colts would have had a much better CHANCE (not guaranteed) if they picked Whitehair according to most experts.  As i said before, i am happy that they are trying to address the line.  4 out of seven picks is a pretty heavy investment. 

 

Joseph

Most experts thought Whitehair would be the first guard off the board.   How did that turn out

[TigerColt]

Just now, jvan1973 said:

Most experts thought Whitehair would be the first guard off the board.   How did that turn out

 

Again you are missing the point.  So most experts felt Whitehair as best OG in draft.  That we can agree on. When Garnett  was taken before Whitehair that means the value of next guard after Whitehair dropped even more.  Whitehair 40 times were ideal for pulling and a zone blocking scheme.  Clarks?  so so much.

 

IMO the draft set up perfectly for the Colts but elected to address other needs.  I sincerely hope they are right. 

 

Joseph

 

  

[jvan1973]

22 minutes ago, cjrichard said:

 

Again you are missing the point.  So most experts felt Whitehair as best OG in draft.  That we can agree on. When Garnett  was taken before Whitehair that means the value of next guard after Whitehair dropped even more.  Whitehair 40 times were ideal for pulling and a zone blocking scheme.  Clarks?  so so much.

 

IMO the draft set up perfectly for the Colts but elected to address other needs.  I sincerely hope they are right. 

 

Joseph

 

  

Maybe Whitehair isn't as good as many thought 

[chad72]

1 hour ago, jvan1973 said:

 Just because Mel says something doesn't make it the same think teams think

 

 

Who the he** is Mel Kiper? Cue...Bill Tobin

[lollygagger8]

1 hour ago, cjrichard said:

 

Colts would have had a much better CHANCE (not guaranteed) if they picked Whitehair according to most experts.  As i said before, i am happy that they are trying to address the line.  4 out of seven picks is a pretty heavy investment. 

 

Joseph

 

 

Dude, 

 

 

[bababooey]

2 hours ago, jvan1973 said:

One pick before us in the second

My bad. Lot of football players digested this weekend.

[crazycolt1]

3 hours ago, OffensivelyPC said:

After we traded back.

True but picking up an extra two picks I think was worth it. With the four o-linemen that were taken at least two of them can play multiple positions. That may pay off big time in the long run because of injuries. All in all I am pretty happy with this draft. I am still a little concerned with a pass rusher but pretty much all teams have at least one position they have problems with. If our D-backs can cover better it will help in the pass rush department IMO.

[crazycolt1]

2 hours ago, jvan1973 said:

Maybe Whitehair isn't as good as many thought 

Only time will answer that but trading down and picking up two extra picks might have been the best way at the time? It was nice to see the Colts taking advice from coaches with a lot of experience during the draft. I think Philbin had a big influence for sure.

[OffensivelyPC]

17 minutes ago, crazycolt1 said:

True but picking up an extra two picks I think was worth it. With the four o-linemen that were taken at least two of them can play multiple positions. That may pay off big time in the long run because of injuries. All in all I am pretty happy with this draft. I am still a little concerned with a pass rusher but pretty much all teams have at least one position they have problems with. If our D-backs can cover better it will help in the pass rush department IMO.

Oh I'm not saying we should have taken him at 48.  There were rankings and mocks that put Whitehair in 1st round territory. So taking him would have made sense.  I liked him - I even liked him at 48.  That said, the fact he almost fell out of the 2nd round suggests to me, and I think any reasonable person that there's little basis for saying that Whitehair would have been a key ingredient for the Colts to have made a "great OL" and he's a "sure fire long term starter," is a stretch.  It may have improved our OL, but I'll stop short of the lofty expectations the OP had.

 

I'm still concerned with our pass rush as well.  But I've always said that we couldn't fix everything in one year. I think we still got a lot accomplished with this draft class.  I'm excited about most of our selections.  I'm a little concerned with Green, but I won't deny the talent he has.  We obviously think we can coach him up - I certainly hope so, because he needs it.   Out of all of our needs that didn't get fixed, I think I would have rather put the ILB on the backburner and simply address the OL and DL/Edge rusher, because I thought our ILB depth was at least good enough to compete.  But you don't go to the draft, the draft comes to you.  Fitting that we didn't address the pass rush because it was already a "meh" class outside the top 10 talents by almost all standards.  

[King Colt]

I love the draft because the fans love/hate the picks. I am not paid money to know who is who so I sit back

 and watch like millions of others and hope the Colts did well. So far only the Jags and Ravens are getting As for their picks, which means very little. I'm happy with our picks by listening to the pros[ comments. Protecting Luck is priority ONE especially with our division finally being competitive. So far I have not heard much praise for the Texans draft of Fuller as it was  before the draft he does not have natural hands and that has been said more than once. I think we will win our division and our division will be very competitive.

[TigerColt]

3 hours ago, lollygagger8 said:

 

 

Dude, 

 

 

Dude, its called a forum.  Its purpose is to express your opinion (if you agree or not does not matter to me), I like logical discussions with people especially regarding the Colts.  Born and raised in Baton Rouge, LA and there are not many Colts fans down here to discuss my favorite team since the late 70s.  

 

Joseph  

[crazycolt1]

6 hours ago, cjrichard said:

I am not going by MY opinion on draft rankings.  I let the guys that do it all day do that.  According to MOST experts, Whitehair was the best OG in the draft and could play at any position (something the Colts value).  I'm not saying i dont like Green as a player, but his ratings were all over the board and it was worth a risk to wait until the third.  Pagano himself said he will need to be "coached up".  Not something i want to hear about a second round pick.

 

I am happy that we address the OL and i trust the Colts staff feels good with the draft.  I just hope they were right to trade down and pass on Whitehair.

 

Joseph

  

Trading down and picking up two more players that were rated higher than where the Colts took them is something you failed to mention. You mention you go by what most experts say but yet you seemed to overlook the final outcome of the two players we picked up and what the so called experts had to say about them and the final grade that was given to the Colts.

[Surge89]

I don't get it lol ... I'm not high in 2 of the 7 picks and I still think this has potential to be an amazing draft...  

 

We are bolstering the lines... something some of us have been begging for since Manning threw 49 TD's to Stokely, Harrison and Wayne...  jeeze 

[crazycolt1]

1 minute ago, Surge89 said:

I don't get it lol ... I'm not high in 2 of the 7 picks and I still think this has potential to be an amazing draft...  

 

We are bolstering the lines... something some of us have been begging for since Manning threw 49 TD's to Stokely, Harrison and Wayne...  jeeze 

Part of the fandom is having those who are negative no matter what is done. We could win a super bowl and some would make an issue out of not winning it by more points!

[southwest1]

8 hours ago, chad72 said:

 

 

Who the he** is Mel Kiper? Cue...Bill Tobin

Cute draft reference there Chad. Yeah, I don't see what's so great about Mel either. I never liked the guy. 

 

Thanks for making me laugh anyway. 

 

Overall, I'm just pleased that our GM made good moves to protect Andrew Luck upfront. 

 

http://www.stampedeblue.com/2016/5/1/11545990/nfl-draft-grades-2016-grades-for-all-eight-indianapolis-colts-picks

 

Mike Mayock even said on NFL Network that had Hassan Ridgeway played 1 more yr. in college he would have gone in the 1st or 2nd round next April so INDY got enormous value there. Plus, Center Ryan Kelly made me very happy this year. 

[southwest1]

I know I have critical of Grigson in the past, but I must praise him for his selections this year. They all made sense. Jimmy must have told Ryan that this is the "No more lacerated kidneys draft." 

 

Even the T.J. Green selection seemed reasonable since we need a successor to the "Human Missile" Bob Sanders anyway. I have a soft spot for hard hitting safeties like John Lynch from the Bucs & Denver days. I'm not saying TJ is that thumper right now, but with the right coaching he could become that missile eventually. 

[Hoosiernsavga]

I love the prospects we have on the OL, I really like Whitehair also. But i honestly think a couple of our guys are more versatile. Green wouldnt have been my first choice in the secondary in round 2 but he was rated by some as the #2 FS in the draft and you have to love the upside.

One thing is for certain with the Colts first two picks of the draft, We have our best offensive lineman by position in one  and our best athlete on the roster in the other! 

I like it  

 

[RealityIsLuck]

Costonzo, Goode

Mewhort, Thorton

Kelly, Harrison

Reitz, Blythe

Clark, Haeg

 

Great enough for me.