Our draft day is finally here, let's discuss who we should draft!

[Legend of Luck]

So to me, I think our biggest needs are OL, CB, and Safety, in that order.

 

I know some of you think that safety is our biggest need, but I believe in Delano Howell, and I know that Sergio wants to contribute more as well.

 

So I am hoping for our 2nd round pick to be either Marcus Martin, C USC, or Xavier Su'a-Filo, G UCLA. There has been talk of Donald Thomas moving over to Center, so our line could be AC, ?, Thomas, Thorton, Gosder.   Now, I am very curious about Khaled Holmes and Lance Louis, but I feel like with Clowney going to Houston, our O-line has to be elite now. So let's get a guy who we know is great, can start right away, and then we have some nice depth in case of an injury.

 

So I think our starting lineup would be AC, Thomas, Martin, (Whoever wins out between Thorton, Holmes, and Louis), Gosder. Or if we take Xavier,   AC, Xavier, and some combination of Thomas, Holmes, Thorton, Louis, Gosder. 

 

Round 3 Im torn between another OL or a CB. I think we should probably go CB though, so i would love to get Bashaud Breeland out of Clemson. Not sure if he will make it to us, but that would be nice.

 

What about you guys? What do you think is our biggest need? What should our strategy be?

[Bluefire4]

Khaled Homes WILL BE the starting center. I'm not so sure if we should draft a center. It all depends on how comfortable we are in Thomas Austin. We may need a guard if Lance Louis doesn't work out and Thomas gets hurt again but right now I see Khaled Holmes at center, 2nd string Donald Thomas with Lance Louis or Joe Rietz replacing Thomas at guard, and 3rd string is Thomas Austin.

[Bluefire4]

Also if Brooks is there at 2, I think we should get him. Maybe guard in the third if a good one is there, if not then get a corner.

[ztboiler]

As a fan base, most are underestimating the quality of our top 8 O-lineman, and overestimating the historical probability that any O-lineman drafted in the late 2nd or 3rd will beat any of them out to dress on game day.  We also forget how hard it is to draft 2 good pieces that stick as a long term part of your team after the 1st round.  If you can get 2 good pieces out of our 2,3 and 5, then it's been a huge success regardless of what position they play.  Go back and look at rounds 2 & 3 from the last 3 years.  How many of those players will get a second contract of any significance?

 

It is looking more an more like there might be an O-lineman on the board as BPA, and if Grigs thinks that Gabe Jackson, Marcus Martin, X Su'a-Filo etc. will be better long term pieces than what we have, then I hope he pulls the trigger...and I hope we understand that they may or may not play that much this year.

 

It is still even more likely that the depth at CB and WR will produce the actual BPA, which should align well with Grigson's master plan.  He left open spots on his roster to draft at least 2 players for the secondary.  I don't think he'll force it, nor do I think he'll pass on Jordan Matthews if available and T. Brooks is gone.

[zibby43]

As a diehard Notre Dame fan/moderator of a Notre Dame premium football site, I must say that Sergio Brown will likely frustate us in coverage.

 

He has an excellent top end speed and is a sure, non-tentative tackler (these attributes have been highlighted by his outstanding special teams play).

 

However, he does not have "fluid" hips in coverage, possesses below average hands, and is not necessarily what you would call a ball hawk.  He has trouble turning to play the ball in the air. 

 

I honestly think he could struggle a bit early in the season if given considerable playing time. 

 

Consequently, I think safety is a big need for the Colts at the moment. 

[TKnight24]

BPA at a position of need 

 

Simple 

 

 

#InGrigsonWeTrust

[Mitch]

There's a few different directions I can see us drafting today. I think we look at OG, C, CB/S, OLB. This is of course all dependent on the player still being there @ 59 but we can still dream. Third round I'm going to throw out some names of players that I can see dropping and making it to the 3rd round, could even be a potential trade-back scenario picks.

 

2nd Round:

-Xavier Su'a Filo, OG- Would be a great value pick and with the horrid guard play we had last year it would make a world of difference. Texans are drafting to combat Luck, we should draft to protect him. 

 

-Lamarcus Joyner, CB/S-Would be able to play both CB and Safety and he's just a playmaker. This is my dream pick at 59. I love his instincts and the way he plays the game but the size sure is a bit smaller than what I would want. Personally I'd play him at Safety and pair him up with Landry like the seahawks paired small Earl Thomas and big Kam Chancellor. 

 

-Marcus Martin, C-Hits a position of need no matter what our coaches and fans think of Khaled. Martin is the #1 center in the draft and for good reason. He seems to give up on some plays but that can be fixed with the right coaching. I also think Chuck really likes this kid. I wouldn't be surprised if we pulled the trigger.

 

-Demarcus Lawrence or Jeremiah Attaochu, OLB-We need more pass rush. If Mathis wasn't a freak of nature this would be even more evident but he has been doing it all himself. This wouldn't be a popular pick in Indianapolis since we just picked Bjoern last year but you can never have too many pass rushers in today's NFL. 

 

 

3rd round:

 

-Dion Bailey, S or Brock Vereen, S-If we don't go safety in the 2nd round I can easily see us picking one in the 3rd. Dion Bailey just made the switch to safety a year ago and really came on. He's versatile and has good instincts and ball skills. Brock Vereen comes from a football family, he's durable(started in all games in 3 years) but his ball skills aren't near as good as Bailey's but he's very smart and studies hard, could fit in really well with our Locker room.

 

-Gabe Jackson, OG-I know he's projected all over the place in the 2nd and 3rd so I put him here. For same reason as Xavier in the 1st, it would be great value and would instantly make our O-line better. O-line is boring in the draft but it is critical to a team's success.

 

-Bruce Ellington, WR-This is my wildcard pick and sure it's influenced by me being a USC fan(the real USC aka South Carolina) but the kid can play. He constantly made plays the entire time I've been here at USC and has been the safety blanket for Connor Shaw. He even won the bowl game this year single-handedly, even throwing for a TD in the game to go along with his 2 receiving ones. He's a dual-sport athlete and played basketball as well as football. He's got a knack for making plays and getting into the end zone and would be a great pick here. In other years he would be a 1st or 2nd round prospect, this year we can get another steal at WR in the 3rd like we did with T.Y. I have said all along that we don't need a WR but this one in 3rd round would be extremely hard to pass up. 

 

Sure there are other options that I like but these are my preferred ones. 

[Legend of Luck]

 

There's a few different directions I can see us drafting today. I think we look at OG, C, CB/S, OLB. This is of course all dependent on the player still being there @ 59 but we can still dream. Third round I'm going to throw out some names of players that I can see dropping and making it to the 3rd round, could even be a potential trade-back scenario picks.

 

2nd Round:

-Xavier Su'a Filo, OG- Would be a great value pick and with the horrid guard play we had last year it would make a world of difference. Texans are drafting to combat Luck, we should draft to protect him. 

 

-Lamarcus Joyner, CB/S-Would be able to play both CB and Safety and he's just a playmaker. This is my dream pick at 59. I love his instincts and the way he plays the game but the size sure is a bit smaller than what I would want. Personally I'd play him at Safety and pair him up with Landry like the seahawks paired small Earl Thomas and big Kam Chancellor. 

 

-Marcus Martin, C-Hits a position of need no matter what our coaches and fans think of Khaled. Martin is the #1 center in the draft and for good reason. He seems to give up on some plays but that can be fixed with the right coaching. I also think Chuck really likes this kid. I wouldn't be surprised if we pulled the trigger.

 

-Demarcus Lawrence or Jeremiah Attaochu, OLB-We need more pass rush. If Mathis wasn't a freak of nature this would be even more evident but he has been doing it all himself. This wouldn't be a popular pick in Indianapolis since we just picked Bjoern last year but you can never have too many pass rushers in today's NFL. 

 

 

3rd round:

 

-Dion Bailey, S or Brock Vereen, S-If we don't go safety in the 2nd round I can easily see us picking one in the 3rd. Dion Bailey just made the switch to safety a year ago and really came on. He's versatile and has good instincts and ball skills. Brock Vereen comes from a football family, he's durable(started in all games in 3 years) but his ball skills aren't near as good as Bailey's but he's very smart and studies hard, could fit in really well with our Locker room.

 

-Gabe Jackson, OG-I know he's projected all over the place in the 2nd and 3rd so I put him here. For same reason as Xavier in the 1st, it would be great value and would instantly make our O-line better. O-line is boring in the draft but it is critical to a team's success.

 

-Bruce Ellington, WR-This is my wildcard pick and sure it's influenced by me being a USC fan(the real USC aka South Carolina) but the kid can play. He constantly made plays the entire time I've been here at USC and has been the safety blanket for Connor Shaw. He even won the bowl game this year single-handedly, even throwing for a TD in the game to go along with his 2 receiving ones. He's a dual-sport athlete and played basketball as well as football. He's got a knack for making plays and getting into the end zone and would be a great pick here. In other years he would be a 1st or 2nd round prospect, this year we can get another steal at WR in the 3rd like we did with T.Y. I have said all along that we don't need a WR but this one in 3rd round would be extremely hard to pass up. 

 

Sure there are other options that I like but these are my preferred ones. 

 

 

 

Honestly, I will HATE IT if we spend another pick on a WR.

 

Heres why. 

 

We have TY, Griff, Da'Rick, and Brazil on the roster for the future. Reggie will likely be back next year, and I bet you Hakeem will come back if we want him back. I think we are set at WR for THIS YEAR, and if we lose Hakeem or someone else next year, then we can draft a WR NEXT year.

[Mitch]

Honestly, I will HATE IT if we spend another pick on a WR.

 

Heres why. 

 

We have TY, Griff, Da'Rick, and Brazil on the roster for the future. Reggie will likely be back next year, and I bet you Hakeem will come back if we want him back. I think we are set at WR for THIS YEAR, and if we lose Hakeem or someone else next year, then we can draft a WR NEXT year.

 

I know. I really am hesistant and like I said in the post it was more because I'm a fan but he would be a playmaker for us. Hence the wildcard pick. But yeah I want Rogers to be our next starter, I see a ton of potential.

[BProland85]

It seems as if our positions of need(OG, S, CB, OLB) are going fast so I'd be much in favor of trading down at least once. We really need a run on QBs, RBs, and WRs to happen for guys to drop to us that we have a need for.

 

I was really wanting either Xavier Su'a-Filo or Joel Bitonio to fall but they've already gone. Same thing with Demarcus Lawrence.