A Look At The Past Three Drafts (Profootballfocus)

[vitoaf27]

StampedeBlue (of course--they take shots at the Polians whenever possible) tweeted this article from profootballfocus, which points out the flaws in our past three drafts but, IMO, doesn't give us enough credit for our finds, and doesn't take into account our drafting position. However, it is an interesting, mostly objective look at our drafting, and makes me look forward to seeing what Grigson and co. can do in a couple weeks (Boy that's getting close!!!).

http://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2012/04/03/draft-grader-indianapolis-colts/

To improve upon this article, I think they need to compare our drafts (and draft position) to other teams, and look at injuries during each player's collegiate and professional careers to pinpoint if it was the Colts' fault for drafting an injury-plagued player or if injuries were just bad luck.

Also, if this has been posted already and/or should be in the Draft section, feel free to move it or merge/delete it!

[IndyTrav]

StampedeBlue (of course--they take shots at the Polians whenever possible) tweeted this article from profootballfocus, which points out the flaws in our past three drafts but, IMO, doesn't give us enough credit for our finds...

When will Colts fans stop counting marginal NFL starters as "finds". The only "find" we've had in recent years was Bethea.

[BOTT]

they were kind of stating the obvious

[ColtJ82]

When will Colts fans stop counting marginal NFL starters as "finds". The only "find" we've had in recent years was Bethea.

I agree that our drafts have generally produced marginal NFL starters at best. I lot of players were masked by our success through the years. Bethea was a definite find. We have found enough talent to plug guys in, but our drafts have been atrocious since 2008. The only pick that I disagree with everyone on was Donald Brown. He was probably drafted a little high, but we have never played to his strengths. He is a change of pace back and should be used in the open field instead of between tackles. I think last year's draft may prove to be solid, but the others were bad. Decent finds below.

2010 decent picks- Angerer, Eldridge (marginal), Conner (marginal), and possibly, possibly Kevin Thomas.

2009 Brown, Collie, McAfee Powers (contributors)

2008 Tamme, Garcon, Wheeler (very marginal)

[Warhawk]

I'm not sure I agree with that article, simply because Powers and Wheeler were almost the exact same overall pick, and they give the Colts points for Wheeler, but not Powers?

You're kidding, right?

I could also quibble at how badly they rate Moala, although that may be a function of draft position.

[21isSuperman]

Keep in mind that in the last few years, Chris Polian had taken over the drafting part. That's why there was such a big drop off. I have more opinions on the article, but I am too lazy to type them all. Bill Polian was always a great talent finder. His son, however, was not. I heard that Chris took over the last few drafts, then Bill took over again in our most recent draft. Not sure if it's true, but it would make sense

[vitoaf27]

When will Colts fans stop counting marginal NFL starters as "finds". The only "find" we've had in recent years was Bethea.

Pierre Garcon was, I believe, a 6th rounder? That's a find. Austin Collie was a 4th rounder. That's definitely a find, considering he was on pace to have a phenomenal year in 2010 before the concussions. Austin Collie is very good, look for him to be a huge contributor this year. Jerraud Powers, while not a "find," is definitely better than pff gave him credit for. As is Pat Angerer. Jacob Tamme lead the league in receptions once he took over as starter in 2010--that's a find.

Edit: Not to mention, they found one of the best punters in the league.