Colts tied fourth overall in finding all pros in the last decade.

[MTC]

http://www.cleveland.com/datacentral/index.ssf/2012/04/new_england_patriots_best_clev.html

A interesting read. Colts have 10 drafted all pros in the last decade. I guess Polian did a better job then we most thought he did.

[Gavin]

Peyton

Harrison

Saturday

Edge

Sanders

Freeny

Mathis

Wayne

Clark

Vanderjagt

yeah not one linebacker or corner or guard or tackle

we did ok but could have done much better

and if you notice a dominating theme

only three defensive players

[Tony Sullivan]

http://www.cleveland..._best_clev.html

A interesting read. Colts have 10 drafted all pros in the last decade. I guess Polian did a better job then we most thought he did.

Before the 2-14 season Colts fans here regularly bragged and were thankful for what a talented guru Polian was.

[DalTXColtsFan]

Sanders

Freeney

Mathis

Clark

Fixed it for you - the other players you listed weren't drafted between 2002 and 2011. You also misspelled Freeney.

Who are the other 6?

[MTC]

Fixed it for you - the other players you listed weren't drafted between 2002 and 2011. You also misspelled Freeney.

Who are the other 6?

Cato June?

[subvet]

Peyton

Harrison

Saturday

Edge

Sanders

Freeny

Mathis

Wayne

Clark

Vanderjagt

yeah not one linebacker or corner or guard or tackle

we did ok but could have done much better

and if you notice a dominating theme

only three defensive players

Brings up the old argument about winning games, offense or defense.

As has been proven time and again a dominating defense cannot win games without a good offense. The teams with overwhelming offense and an average defense will have a better record. The dominating theme you mentioned worked for the Colts so I'm not complaining.

[IndyTrav]

Polian didn't draft Harrison I didn't think.....

Harrison/Wayne/Saturday/Clark.....4 All Pros, all directly a results of 1 All-Pro....Peyton Manning.....Edge probably could have gotten his on any other team in the NFL....The other 4....No....

[Keith L. Scott]

VanderSHANK... ugh I loath that name!

[vinatierifan4]

when was tarik glenn drafted?

[Gavin]

Uh the exact opposite can be said about the Bears Superbowl run there defense carried them their, ya need balance to win over time , its about making plays in the clutch and specifically the defense, if the defense cant stop nobody then the offense will eventually struggle to keep up.

[Balzer40]

Polian didn't draft Harrison I didn't think.....

Harrison/Wayne/Saturday/Clark.....4 All Pros, all directly a results of 1 All-Pro....Peyton Manning.....Edge probably could have gotten his on any other team in the NFL....The other 4....No....

You are right, Polian did not draft Harrison.

[Balzer40]

when was tarik glenn drafted?

'97

[Balzer40]

Oops, double post.

[unitaswestand]

I am surprised people bash Bill Polian. I would argue he is as good as there has been in the NFL for evaluating talent. Now, if people want to rip Chris Polian's influence over the last few drafts, I can see that. But without Bill Polian, no way this team would have done that well.

[Balzer40]

I am surprised people bash Bill Polian. I would argue he is as good as there has been in the NFL for evaluating talent. Now, if people want to rip Chris Polian's influence over the last few drafts, I can see that. But without Bill Polian, no way this team would have done that well.

Polian was great at evaluating skill positions, but when it came to O-line and D-line talent, he was awful. He undervalued both of those areas and is one of the big reasons why the Colts were not as successful as they should have been. Im not trying to take away what Polian done for the franchise and the city, but he definately had his faults.

[FireJimCaldwell]

Vanderjagt and Saturday weren't drafted at all, unless the CFL counts for Vanderjagt.

That article was poorly researched, or titled/worded. It might have been better said that those teams had that # of all-pros in that time frame.

[FireJimCaldwell]

Mathis never made NFL AP ALL Pro

First Team AP All Pro

Dallas Clark 2009 drafted in 2003.

Dwight Freeney 2004.2005.2009 drafted in 2002.

Marvin Harrison 1999,2002,2006 drafted in 1996.

Edgerrin James 1999 drafted in 1999.

Peyton Manning, 2003,2004,2005,2008,2009 drafted in1998.

Bob Sanders 2005,2007 drafted in 2004.

Jeff Saturday 2005, 2007 UDFA.

Mike Vanderjagt, 2003 UDFA.

Reggie Wayne 2010 drafted in 2001.

So only 3 fit the basis of the article. Clark Freeney, &Sanders.

[21isSuperman]

Polian haters...where you at?!?! In all seriousness, you could take this multiple ways. One could argue that Polian drafted well since we had so many All Pros, but one could also argue that we didn't have as many All Pros on defense or in the trenches. One could say that the offensive guys were All Pros because Peyton elevated their play, but one could also say that they were first round talents anyway and were good football players coming out of college. Personally, I think Polian was very good at finding talent

[Fx Stryker]

Wait, I don't get it. Does this article count Manning, Harrison, Edge, Reg, Saturday, and Vanderjagt?

[DalTXColtsFan]

Oops - my bad, they weren't restricting it to players DRAFTED during those years, just who MADE IT.

You left out Cato June, other than that, yes.

[FireJimCaldwell]

Oops - my bad, they weren't restricting it to players DRAFTED during those years, just who MADE IT.

You left out Cato June, other than that, yes.

I believe the article was restricting to players drafted. That's what it said.

Even with Cato June, he wasn't first team AP all-pro.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The New England Patriots and Cleveland's old friend, Bill Belichick, find more stars through the NFL Draft than any other team

Fifteen AP All-Pros from 2002-11, excluding special-teams players, were drafted by the Patriots since quarterback Rich Gannon in 1987, dating back to before Belichick was the coach. Not surprisingly, the Patriots have won more games than any other team over the last 10 seasons.

So who knows what point they were actually trying to prove.

[smittywerb]

No one is disputing that Polian couldn't find talent, it's the favoritism of the offense that people have a problem with.

[Andy]

That's great! Too bad that's irrelevant now because the majority of our FO from the last 10 years is gone.

[KarlKuffs]

http://www.cleveland..._best_clev.html

A interesting read. Colts have 10 drafted all pros in the last decade. I guess Polian did a better job then we most thought he did.

How has Polian done in the last 5 drafts?

[SLILLINGTON10]

how many of those guys where drafted in later rounds? none? he couldn't find any real value in later rounds.

[Superman]

how many of those guys where drafted in later rounds? none? he couldn't find any real value in later rounds.

LOL

Antoine Bethea --- 6th round

Robert Mathis --- 5th round

Pierre Garcon --- 6th round

Austin Collie --- 4th round

Ryan Diem --- 4th round

David Thornton --- 4th round

Cato June --- 6th round

Jake Scott --- 5th round

Charlie Johnson --- 6th round

Clint Session --- 4th round

Ricardo Mathews --- 7th round

Kavell Conner --- 7th round

I know the topic was All Pro players, but to suggest that Polian didn't find value in later rounds is kind of, well, ignorant. One of his greatest strengths was finding good players later in the draft.

And most teams don't find All Pro level players late in the draft. Only five of the 26 All Pros for 2011 were drafted in the 4th or beyond: Carl Nicks (5th), Jason Peters (undrafted), Jahri Evans (4th), Wes Welker (undrafted), Joe McKnight (special teams, 4th). Everyone passed on those guys, at least three times. So it's unfair to mark them against any one GM. Welker was undrafted, and then cast off twice before going to the Pats.

This argument and discussion is just based on a flawed premise. Polian's drafting can certainly be criticized, especially in recent years, but he's regarded around the league as one of the best drafters of the last couple of decades, as his GM awards show, and his teams have won a lot of games.

[Superman]

Polian was great at evaluating skill positions, but when it came to O-line and D-line talent, he was awful. He undervalued both of those areas and is one of the big reasons why the Colts were not as successful as they should have been. Im not trying to take away what Polian done for the franchise and the city, but he definately had his faults.

Robert Mathis and Dwight Freeney would have something to say about that. As would Jake Scott, Ryan Diem and Ryan Lilja.

Interior defensive line, yes. I will say, in Polian's defense, that he seemed to embrace Dungy's philosophy of targeting smaller defensive players, but it certainly wasn't Polian's strong suit in his time here.

And he had a lot of misses along the offensive line.

I'm just saying I don't think the issue was with how Polian valued those positions. I just don't think he was that good at drafting those positions as he was at receiver, linebacker, safety, defensive end, etc. And he said on the radio the other day that his philosophy was to value players who either put points on the board or made it tough on the other team to put points on the board. So he would often target offensive skill players and pass rushers and corners higher than offensive linemen or interior defensive linemen, because of how he viewed their respective impacts on the team. I don't necessarily agree with that, but we did find a lot of standout players at those positions.

[Carlos Danger]

Polian haters...where you at?!?! In all seriousness, you could take this multiple ways. One could argue that Polian drafted well since we had so many All Pros, but one could also argue that we didn't have as many All Pros on defense or in the trenches. One could say that the offensive guys were All Pros because Peyton elevated their play, but one could also say that they were first round talents anyway and were good football players coming out of college. Personally, I think Polian was very good at finding talent

I agree. BP was excellent at finding and evaluating talent. That being said, I don't think that his scouting was the main reason many fans and eventually Mr. Irsay didn't want him to continue in Indy. The secrecy that had become the culture under the Polians and some key personnel errors with the existing team ultimately forced a tough decision. I was never one of those who hated BP's guts, but nobody had any contingency plan for what would happen if we lost #18 for even 3 games, let alone a whole season. Our lack of depth at every position had been on display for the last couple of years. Polian (and maybe everyone else) had become (or had seemed to become) myopic in his focus on keeping our big names happy while refusing to make bold moves to improve the rest of the team. From many fans' points of view, it seemed as though the Polian regime was happy to let the G.O.A.T. at QB slink away into eventual obsolescence as the team slowly eroded around him. This is partly just the perception. The facts are that the team suffered some very poorly timed injuries that magnified the importance of certain personnel moves and prospects that haven't fulfilled their potential. These things, coupled with BP's media mistakes and public waffling over the future of #18 made a culture change appear to be the most viable option. IMO

[Balzer40]

Robert Mathis and Dwight Freeney would have something to say about that. As would Jake Scott, Ryan Diem and Ryan Lilja.

Interior defensive line, yes. I will say, in Polian's defense, that he seemed to embrace Dungy's philosophy of targeting smaller defensive players, but it certainly wasn't Polian's strong suit in his time here.

And he had a lot of misses along the offensive line.

I'm just saying I don't think the issue was with how Polian valued those positions. I just don't think he was that good at drafting those positions as he was at receiver, linebacker, safety, defensive end, etc. And he said on the radio the other day that his philosophy was to value players who either put points on the board or made it tough on the other team to put points on the board. So he would often target offensive skill players and pass rushers and corners higher than offensive linemen or interior defensive linemen, because of how he viewed their respective impacts on the team. I don't necessarily agree with that, but we did find a lot of standout players at those positions.

DT is more of what I meant and I should have specified, but my opinion about his O-line evaluations are still the same. Any GM can hit on a few gems over the yrs. in those positions.

One of the biggest problems I had with Polian is the fact that he grossly undervalued O-line and DT. 2 of the positions that I have been taught for 30 some odd yrs. are the most important on the football field(and obviously QB). Polian thought the complete opposite. He obviously had a ton of success and I appreciate his skills on evaluating skill positions, but IMO he done the franchise a huge disservice by not putting more effort into the trenches.

[21isSuperman]

I agree. BP was excellent at finding and evaluating talent. That being said, I don't think that his scouting was the main reason many fans and eventually Mr. Irsay didn't want him to continue in Indy. The secrecy that had become the culture under the Polians and some key personnel errors with the existing team ultimately forced a tough decision. I was never one of those who hated BP's guts, but nobody had any contingency plan for what would happen if we lost #18 for even 3 games, let alone a whole season. Our lack of depth at every position had been on display for the last couple of years. Polian (and maybe everyone else) had become (or had seemed to become) myopic in his focus on keeping our big names happy while refusing to make bold moves to improve the rest of the team. From many fans' points of view, it seemed as though the Polian regime was happy to let the G.O.A.T. at QB slink away into eventual obsolescence as the team slowly eroded around him. This is partly just the perception. The facts are that the team suffered some very poorly timed injuries that magnified the importance of certain personnel moves and prospects that haven't fulfilled their potential. These things, coupled with BP's media mistakes and public waffling over the future of #18 made a culture change appear to be the most viable option. IMO

Polian made a number of decisions with which I disagree. There were reports that Coyer wasn't allowed to run the defense the way he wanted to and instead had to listen to what Polian wanted out of the defense. In an interview, Polian said that the defense was built so the opponents would get plenty of yards, but few touchdowns. Then they would get worn down from running so many plays and by the time the 4th quarter comes, they would be exhausted. In my opinion, that is a flawed theory in many ways. He stuck his nose where it shouldn't have gone; he should let the defensive coordinator do his job.

It was also said that Irsay only wanted to fire Chris, but Bill said they are a package and if Chris is fired, Bill would go too.

[Superman]

DT is more of what I meant and I should have specified, but my opinion about his O-line evaluations are still the same. Any GM can hit on a few gems over the yrs. in those positions.

One of the biggest problems I had with Polian is the fact that he grossly undervalued O-line and DT. 2 of the positions that I have been taught for 30 some odd yrs. are the most important on the football field(and obviously QB). Polian thought the complete opposite. He obviously had a ton of success and I appreciate his skills on evaluating skill positions, but IMO he done the franchise a huge disservice by not putting more effort into the trenches.

I think his philosophy was more that he'd rather spend high draft picks on playmakers, because the big guys in the trenches can be had in later rounds. And that's true; he just wasn't very good at drafting offensive lineman and defensive tackles in later rounds. Also had some bad luck there, with Quinn Pitcock, and other acquisitions at defensive tackle that washed out or got injured. But in his years, he's picked a ton of good receivers, defensive ends and linebackers, corners, safeties, running backs, etc. And I think the reason why is because he valued those positions higher and used higher draft picks on them.

[Coffeedrinker]

I think his philosophy was more that he'd rather spend high draft picks on playmakers, because the big guys in the trenches can be had in later rounds. And that's true; he just wasn't very good at drafting offensive lineman and defensive tackles in later rounds. Also had some bad luck there, with Quinn Pitcock, and other acquisitions at defensive tackle that washed out or got injured. But in his years, he's picked a ton of good receivers, defensive ends and linebackers, corners, safeties, running backs, etc. And I think the reason why is because he valued those positions higher and used higher draft picks on them.

I think it had more to do with Mudd than Polian.

I think people misunderstand the role of the GM and the scouts(not you). now with Grigs as well, it's up to the coaches to relay the skills and attributes they think are important for the different positions, it then up to the GM and the scouts to grade players on those different skills, the final grades is what determines the draft board. They don't watch film on a guy and get a good feeling about him and then watch more film.

I think Mudd knew better what it takes to be a successful olineman than did Metz, which makes sense because he had a lot more years to develop what skills he coveted.

The man was GM of the year 6 times for a reason. He wrote the book on scouting players (literally, he wrote a 1000+ page manual on scouting players of which every Colts scout had a copy).

[Indianapolis-Colts-Fan]

Before the 2-14 season Colts fans here regularly bragged and were thankful for what a talented guru Polian was.

More like soon after the 06 season we began to hate him more and more.

[amff]

Polian didn't draft Harrison I didn't think.....

Harrison/Wayne/Saturday/Clark.....4 All Pros, all directly a results of 1 All-Pro....Peyton Manning.....Edge probably could have gotten his on any other team in the NFL....The other 4....No....

Harrisn was drafted in 1997. prior to polian/Manning era. Still a tremendous choice though

[FireJimCaldwell]

Harrisn was drafted in 1997. prior to polian/Manning era. Still a tremendous choice though

96

[Gavin]

Here is my take on the Polian miss or hit situation, he did both, I think what ultimately got him fired was how he wanted to use the personnel he drafted or the large contracts combined with the recent lack of early success of the early signings of draftees since 2005 keeping in mind the jury is still out on some of these guy like Castonzo and apparently Jerry Hughes and Donald Brown

[schwamm]

Peyton

Harrison

Saturday

Edge

Sanders

Freeny

Mathis

Wayne

Clark

Vanderjagt

yeah not one linebacker or corner or guard or tackle

we did ok but could have done much better

and if you notice a dominating theme

only three defensive players

Saturday was not drafted by the Colts.

[Gavin]

Saturday was not drafted by the Colts.

yeah noticed that right after I posted actually when I was looking up more info

[Blueblazes]

How many All-Pros did we draft in the last 6 years?

[FireJimCaldwell]

How many All-Pros did we draft in the last 6 years?

First Team AP All Pro 2006,07,08,09,10, 11

Dallas Clark 2009

Dwight Freeney 2009 .

Marvin Harrison 2006

Peyton Manning,2008,2009

Bob Sanders ,2007

Jeff Saturday , 2007 .

Reggie Wayne 2010 .