Armchair GM's annual "My Guys" List

[John Hammonds]

"I'm not looking for the best players, I'm looking for the right ones" -- Herb Brooks, 'Miracle'

 

Every year, I make my list of "My Guys" -- players in the draft that strike me as interesting, that have a special "it" factor that I can't explain, but like.  This isn't a list of the best players, but the guys I like.  And I'm especially gratified when the Colts draft any of "my guys".  Illustrious members on that list:  Pat Angerer, Bob Sanders, Melvin Bullett, Clint Session, Fili Moala, Jack Mewhort, and more.

 

So now, with trumpet fanfare, here is my 2018 "My Guys" list.  (The prospective draft round is from the Lindy's Draft Guide)

1 RB Saquon Barkley Penn St

1 QB Sam Darnold USC

1 DE Bradley Chubb NC State

1 G Quenton Nelson Notre Dame

1 LB Roquan Smith Georgia

1 CB/S Minkah Fitzpatrick Alabama

1 CB Denzel Ward Ohio St

1 WR Christian Kirk Texas A&M

1 T Mike McGlinchey Notre Dame

1 DT Da'Ron Payne Alabama

1 DT Vita Vea Washington

1 T Connor Williams Texas

1 G Isaiah Wynn Georgia

1 DT Maurice Hurst Jr Michigan

1 C Billy Price Ohio St

1-2 CB Josh Jackson Iowa

1-2 G Will Hernandez UTEP

1-2 LB Leighton Vander Esch Boise St

1-2 DT Taven Bryan Florida

1-2 S Ronnie Harrison Alabama

2 LB Rashaan Evans Alabama

2 RB Sony Michel Georgia

2 DE/OLB Hercules Mata'afa Wash St

2 TE Dallas Goedert SD St

2 CB Tarvarus McFadden Florida

2-3 QB Mike White Kentucky

2-3 WR Simmie Cobb Jr Indiana

2-3 OLB/DE Harold Landry Boston College

2-3 OLB Lorenzo Carter Georgia

2-3 LB Malik Jefferson Texas

3 WR Equanimeous St Brown Notre Dame

3 S Kyzir White West Virginia

3-4 TE Mike Gesicki Penn St

3-4 CB Rashaan Gaulden Tennessee

3-4 RB Josh Adams Notre Dame

3-4 T Alex Cappa Humboldt St

4 QB Luke Falk Washington St

4-5 LB Shaquem Griffin UCF

4-5 RB Mark Walton Jr Miami

5 WR Auden Tate Florida St

5-6 LB Garrett Dooley Wisconsin

6-7 T KC McDermott Miami

6-7 G Jamil Demby Maine

[The Peytonator]

Spare no expense. 

[DougDew]

Quite the list.  I haven't gotten into the college players so much yet.

 

Given the combination of a desire to trade down, the two guys I would like the Colts to draft round one are Tremane Edmunds or Roquan Smith.  

 

This is subject to change as we get closer to the draft.

[Archer]

A little top-heavy.  Some of my faves that you don’t find interesting:

 

2-3, wr dj chark, lsu

3, lb, darius leonard, sc st.

6, dt kentavius street, nc state

4-5, cb dane cruikshank, arizona

 

[Horse Shoe Heaven]

Well if you have that many guys your bound to hit on at least one!

[John Hammonds]

On 3/10/2018 at 12:49 PM, Archer said:

A little top-heavy.  Some of my faves that you don’t find interesting:

 

2-3, wr dj chark, lsu

3, lb, darius leonard, sc st.

6, dt kentavius street, nc state

4-5, cb dane cruikshank, arizona

 

Some interesting guys there.  Of your list, I'm most intrigued by Kentavius Street.  A decent late round project for a 1-gap penetrating DT.  Added bonus: if we drafted Chubb, we get the benefit of the "teammates" factor, like Hank Anderson/David Parry or Luck/Fleener/Whalen (the Stanford Five!)  DJ Clark interested me, except for the Lindy's commentary that he didn't look natural catching the ball, with too many easy drops.  The review struck me as somebody who was more of an athlete than a football player, a la Barkevious Mingo.  I hope he does well though!

[John Hammonds]

On 3/10/2018 at 12:10 PM, DougDew said:

Quite the list.  I haven't gotten into the college players so much yet.

 

Given the combination of a desire to trade down, the two guys I would like the Colts to draft round one are Tremane Edmunds or Roquan Smith.  

 

This is subject to change as we get closer to the draft.

Smith is on my list for obvious reasons.  I just couldn't quite put Edmunds there.  I know he's a top flight player, and will get drafted early.  He's got great measurables, high production, and high aggressiveness.  But I don't know.  There was just something lacking for me.  Where's the "it" factor?  I'm sure he'll be good.  But he just didn't make my list.

[Archer]

Hey, one interesting guy on your list that is falling is Josh Adams, RB, Notre Dame.  He very strangely didn’t do anything but lift in Indy, though he was talking up the opportunity to run in Indy a couple of days earlier.  He was also down like 12 pounds to 213 at the combine.  He’s probably fallen to the 5th by virtue of others actually doing something to help themselves.  I love him as a 5th round shot in the event that we sign Dion Lewis...

[John Hammonds]

On 3/10/2018 at 1:40 PM, Horse Shoe Heaven said:

Well if you have that many guys your bound to hit on at least one!

I had no Colts hits on the 2015 draft.  Not even the "gems" of our draft, Anderson, Geathers, and Parry, weren't on my list.

 

Standout "my guys" from that draft were guys like Andrus Peat T Stanford, Bernardrick McKinney LB Miss St, Denzell Perryman LB Miami, and Rob Havenstein G Wisconsin.

[John Hammonds]

9 minutes ago, Archer said:

Hey, one interesting guy on your list that is falling is Josh Adams, RB, Notre Dame.  He very strangely didn’t do anything but lift in Indy, though he was talking up the opportunity to run in Indy a couple of days earlier.  He was also down like 12 pounds to 213 at the combine.  He’s probably fallen to the 5th by virtue of others actually doing something to help themselves.  I love him as a 5th round shot in the event that we sign Dion Lewis...

Yeah.  He barely made the cut.  I think he's going to be better than the sum of his parts, but it may not work out for him.  Not all of "my guys" work out.  I remember celebrating wildly when the Colts took Rob Morris.  I mean, how can you argue with a guy who taunts alligators?  But he never panned out fully.  Oh, he wasn't bad.  But he wasn't all that good either.

[shasta519]

I like this mock draft...best Colts mock I have seen yet.

[shasta519]

It's nice to see that I am not the only one who sees something special in Kirk. I don't know if the Colts will be able to get him, but he might just be my favorite WR in this class.

[John Hammonds]

4 minutes ago, shastamasta said:

I like this mock draft...best Colts mock I have seen yet.

This is just my truncated/highlighted board.

 

In my mock, I have two scenarios:  we either trade down or we don't.  If we trade down, we get Nelson in the 1st rd, Evans and Mata'Affa in the 2nd, St Brown in the third, Gaulden in the 4th, and Griffin in the 5th.  If we don't trade down, we go ahead with Chubb at #3, take Wynn or Hernandez in the 2nd, with the rest the same.  Obviously, what we do in the draft will also depend greatly on what free agents we get.

[shasta519]

4 minutes ago, John Hammonds said:

This is just my truncated/highlighted board.

 

In my mock, I have two scenarios:  we either trade down or we don't.  If we trade down, we get Nelson in the 1st rd, Evans and Mata'Affa in the 2nd, St Brown in the third, Gaulden in the 4th, and Griffin in the 5th.  If we don't trade down, we go ahead with Chubb at #3, take Wynn or Hernandez in the 2nd, with the rest the same.  Obviously, what we do in the draft will also depend greatly on what free agents we get.

 

I know...I was just joking.

[Horse Shoe Heaven]

5 hours ago, John Hammonds said:

I had no Colts hits on the 2015 draft.  Not even the "gems" of our draft, Anderson, Geathers, and Parry, weren't on my list.

 

Standout "my guys" from that draft were guys like Andrus Peat T Stanford, Bernardrick McKinney LB Miss St, Denzell Perryman LB Miami, and Rob Havenstein G Wisconsin.

I liked McKinney wanted him.