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Best Draft Class in Colts History???


Smoke317

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If we take out the Peyton & Andrew draft classes because of them having once in a generation quarterbacks, is this the best draft class in Colts' history just factoring their first year?  Serious question?  What other draft classes compare?  Throw in the Luck & Manning drafts and let's compare their depth not counting the QB's.  Be interesting to see what you guy can come up with.  We can even factor in the Baltimore era.  It can all be included.  Thoughts?

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18 minutes ago, ColtsBlitz said:

I want to make a ranking thread of all this years rookies. This has been the best draft imo. All across the board playmakers. 

It sure feels like it.  But we got a lot of contribution from Luck's class with Luck, TY, Fleener, Allen, and maybe Ballard as well?  Take away Luck and that's still a nice class but this one has been outstanding at so many different positions on both sides of the ball. 

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The drafts with Luck and Manning are the most important of all time for our franchise, but this one is probably the best overall class. Nelson and Leonard are literally best at their position elite their first year. Smith is excellent himself. Turay, Lewis and Hines are very good contributors. The rest are playing some role or are still on the team. Has potential to be like one of those Steelers drafts from the 70s with multiple HOFers (said this earlier this year and people laughed at me).

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No offense intended, but its kind of like throwing out all other situations except the one that supports your theory. 

 

I mean, comparing a draft where we had the third pick in each round to the drafts where we were picking in the high twenties is not a great comparison, IMO.

 

In general, if it ends up having a number of all-pros or long time good players, then yes, it may be the best in history.  But I don't think it says much to compare drafts from year to year at this point considering the disparity this one has compared to most others in terms of draft position.

 

I think of the Steve Emtmann/Quentin Coryatt and the Marshall Faulk/ Trev Alberts drafts as direct comparisons, just off the top of my head. 

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Still too early to tell. , as these guys have to develop some more and get better. I do think so far this draft class has been just as good, if not better than NO draft class from last year. Saints got like 5 starters out of their class (Lattimore, Williams, Ramzcyk, Kamara, Anzalone), while so far we've got 4 (Nelson, Smith, Leonard, and Adams who is technically starting SLB). Lewis, Cain, Turay, all have future starting potential too, while Hines and Wilkins have their roles. The only question marks are Franklin and Fountain right now. That's pretty great. 

 

BTW speaking of that Saints draft class, their last pick, Al Quadin Muhammad, is making some plays out of a rotational role for our Colts. That's pretty nice. 

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Not really sure what would compete with it...at least not since I have been following since the mid 90s. But it's not there yet...they still have to continue to develop and avoid injuries.

 

However, they did have a top 6 pick AND 4 2nd round picks in 2018...hard to really compare that to anything. 

 

That '92 class could have been special...but it wasn't a super strong draft.

 

I think the 2003 draft class was pretty stellar...Dallas Clark, Robert Mathis, Cato June...but that is the only one that really comes to mind as having quality AND quantity. If a couple of guys this year can be as important to this team as Clark and Mathis were...then everything else will be gravy.

 

 

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7 minutes ago, aaron11 said:

2003 was pretty good with clark, doss, mathis and june

 

mike doss was solid, the other three combined for 4 all pro teams, 7 pro bowls,  a defensive player of the year award and a tight end of the year award 

 

Right...from a quantity standpoint...this recent group should have a really good chance. But outside of Leonard and Nelson, it's not like we are talking about potential Ring of Honor nominees.

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16 minutes ago, John Hammonds said:

I think it's too early to tell if the 2018 is the best draft class of all time.  It's only 14 games for these guys.  The 1963 draft had five pro bowlers and one hall of famer.  The 2003 draft was probably the best since the team came to Indy.  But I like this draft's chances.

 

They had 21 picks, kind of hard to not hit on a few HOFers.

 

I agree that it's impossible to judge how good a draft class this early. This class looks strong, but time will tell how good these players really are.

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I know we don't know their long term impact yet.  I was more seeking comparisons on their first year production and contributions.  Also, as meh as most of us thought last year's draft was, we have come out of it with our starting free safety, starting middle linebacker, our 3rd & 4th cornerback, and our 3rd string (about to be 2nd string with the Woods injury) NT.  That's not looking that bad in hindsight.

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1 hour ago, Jared Cisneros said:

The drafts with Luck and Manning are the most important of all time for our franchise, but this one is probably the best overall class. Nelson and Leonard are literally best at their position elite their first year. Smith is excellent himself. Turay, Lewis and Hines are very good contributors. The rest are playing some role or are still on the team. Has potential to be like one of those Steelers drafts from the 70s with multiple HOFers (said this earlier this year and people laughed at me).

It's still funny

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2 hours ago, Smoke317 said:

If we take out the Peyton & Andrew draft classes because of them having once in a generation quarterbacks, is this the best draft class in Colts' history just factoring their first year?  Serious question?  What other draft classes compare?  Throw in the Luck & Manning drafts and let's compare their depth not counting the QB's.  Be interesting to see what you guy can come up with.  We can even factor in the Baltimore era.  It can all be included.  Thoughts?

Most players get better in year 2 and really breakout in year 3.   Can’t wait to see what they become.  

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  I'm just happy to see the Colts hit on some young talent for a change. Between the Luck pick and the Kelly pick. We had to endure what? Like 5 years of wasted 1st round picks. Im so glad those days are over.

   To answer the question though, this is looking like the best draft I can think of, but like others have said time will tell. Its going to be exciting watching the team develop in the coming years. 

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3 hours ago, Smoke317 said:

If we take out the Peyton & Andrew draft classes because of them having once in a generation quarterbacks, is this the best draft class in Colts' history just factoring their first year?  Serious question?  What other draft classes compare?  Throw in the Luck & Manning drafts and let's compare their depth not counting the QB's.  Be interesting to see what you guy can come up with.  We can even factor in the Baltimore era.  It can all be included.  Thoughts?

 

Why would you throw out the Manning and Luck drafts? They are just two individual picks.

 

In my memory the Manning draft was not an impressive draft. I think Jerome Pathon and E.G. Green were taken in rounds 2 and 3, and both WRs were pretty much busts.

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1 hour ago, egg said:

 

Why would you throw out the Manning and Luck drafts? They are just two individual picks.

 

In my memory the Manning draft was not an impressive draft. I think Jerome Pathon and E.G. Green were taken in rounds 2 and 3, and both WRs were pretty much busts.

I only said take them out because a generational QB the likes of Luck & Manning trump all.  Just getting one of those guys makes your draft excellent. I personally think Peyton’s draft was meh. But we got 18 & we saw what that did for football in the state of Indiana...  Luck’s class was definitely deeper and had a lot of key contributors on a playoff team that season.  I hope this year’s class has more longevity than Luck’s (not including Luck & TY) but also key contributors on a playoff team. :rock:

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5 hours ago, NorthernBlue said:

Still too early to tell. , as these guys have to develop some more and get better. I do think so far this draft class has been just as good, if not better than NO draft class from last year. Saints got like 5 starters out of their class (Lattimore, Williams, Ramzcyk, Kamara, Anzalone), while so far we've got 4 (Nelson, Smith, Leonard, and Adams who is technically starting SLB). Lewis, Cain, Turay, all have future starting potential too, while Hines and Wilkins have their roles. The only question marks are Franklin and Fountain right now. That's pretty great. 

 

BTW speaking of that Saints draft class, their last pick, Al Quadin Muhammad, is making some plays out of a rotational role for our Colts. That's pretty nice. 

I wouldn't pencil in Cain yet, who hasn't played an NFL snap.  I do, however, hopes he is ready to go next season!

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