Mock Indy picks

Who do the NFL draft experts around the web think the Colts will draft?
(This is a work in progress. I'll add more links to mocks and comments over the next few days.)

2nd round (pick #59)
OT/OG Oniel Cousins (profile)
G, Chilo Rachal (seconded) (profile)
G, Roy Schuening (agreement) (him again) (profile)
G, Eric Young (another vote)
G, Brandon Albert
OT/OG Tony Hills (profile)
I doubt the Colts spend their first pick of the draft on a guy to play guard. One or both of the guards may return, whether both, one or neither of the Guards are resigned will decide if guard is a concern. Between Dylan Gandy, Charlie Johnson and the wealth of later picks in the 08 draft I think the Colts can fill at least one, maybe both guard spots without using a first day pick.

LB_Xavier Adibi, (This one too) (Third-ed) (Popular pick) (profile) (another), A speedy, underweight LB who excels in pass coverage and could contribute on special teams Adibi is a great fit for the Colts defense. Again I disagree with the position of the player. The Colts LB corps is as strong as it's ever been and for the first time in years will not lose a starter to free agency (Boiman is the only LB FA). If Dungy and Polian love Adibi and see him as a great value at the end of the second I could see them using the pick on him, but it's not a position of need and earlier than the Colts usually take LBs.

LB, Bruce Davis, (profile) A fast aggressive LB with experience at DE. 24.5 sacks in the last two years. Pessimistic, "tweener" profile sounds like Robert Mathis' pre-drafts. Even smaller than Mathis at 229lbs but is 6'3" (an inch taller than Mathis) so could bulk up to a more appropriate size. 2nd round is too early but I'd love for the Colts to grab him in the middle rounds.

LB, Phillip Wheeler, (profile) (profile) A fast, aggressive, undersized linebacker with solid coverage skills. Fits into a cover two at OLB. Experience and sack production at DE and MLB in college makes blitzing or using him as a rush end an option.

RB, Ray Rice (J mays concurs) (profile), The 08 draft class is packed with quality RBs so a good one could make it all the way down to the Colts. The Colts say they would have taken Maurice Jones Drew if he would have fallen to them even after using their first rounder on Addai, so if the right RB falls the Colts will jump on him, no matter how set they feel at RB. Rice pushed 07 2nd round pick Brian Leonard into the background last year after splitting carries with him as a freshman.

HB/FB, Matt Forte (profile) (another) A big physical RB, a great inside runner with good hands and blocking skills. Could fill both the RB2 and Fullback spots for the Colts.
Cons: not very fast or elusive. Inexperienced as a lead blocker.

WR, Devin Thomas (profile) Put up big numbers as his team's only receiving threat. He outgained his team's #2 through #5 receivers 1260 yards to 1228 yards.

WR, James Hardy (profile) A giant (6'7") WR to contrast the trio of 6 footers the Colts have at the 1-3 spots.

TE Fred Davis (profile) (another) Excellent receiving TE with great hands and route running. Not a great blocker, but has the size and showed both effort and improvement to his blocking in college. Rated as either the best TE in the draft class or in the top 2-3.

TE, Martellus Bennett, the 6'7" 250lb Tight End from Texas A&M. He could fill both the blocking TE and big redzone target roles for the Colts. He's an excellent blocker with good hands, but is a bit slow and needs work on his route running. He could more than fill Utecht's role. He has the same strengths, but many of the same weaknesses, including this scary phrase in his profile, "Does not always secure the ball."

DE, Christopher Ellis (profile) (another) A bit of a project (underweight), very quick, with good pass rushing skills. The last player that slid to the Colts because he was too light will be playing in his first Pro Bowl Sunday, Antonie Bethea (now a impressive 203lbs).

DE, Darrell Robertson (profile) (another) a pass rushing specialist with the frame to add weight. 6'5" 240-250. Labeled a tweener, but may be bigger than Robert Mathis already.

DE, Jeremy Thompson (stats) a big DE without huge sack production, he was strong against the run. After initially dismissing this pick I realized he could fix the depth at DE in the opposite way than I had been trying to, by taking snaps away from Freeney/Mathis in running situations keeping them fresh, instead of finding another great pass rusher to replicate what they do.

DE, Cliff Avril (profile) a undersized tweener end with good speed and pass rushing skills.

DT, Pat Sims a very big DT, but may be athletic enough to fit with the Colts, the writer of the mock draft seems to know something I don't stating, "Booger McFarland is now gone."


DT, Red Bryant, (profile) (profile2) Finally everyone's favorite part of the mock draft season, calling someone a moron for not knowing which type of player fits into each of the 32 team's systems. Huge (6'5" 330lbs), neither quick nor fast and having little impact as a pass rusher Bryant is not a Colts DT.

Round 3 (pick #93):
OG, Drew Radovich (draft-tek agrees) (profile)
See comments on Guards above

Xavier Adibi, LB I like him better here. He sounds like a Colts LB.

Geno Hayes, a quick LB that can cover the pass well and isn't a liability against the run
TE, Jacob Tamme (profile) a fast receiving TE, he has great hands, but is a poor blocker. He would be a replacement for Clark (not leaving) or Fletcher, not Utecht. He doesn't block well enough to be a true TE. He's a Dallas Clark type TE. His hands might be better than Clark's but his blocking will be worse. If the Colts don't bring back Fletcher or decide not to keep Clark beyond the one year franchise tag that they've said they'll put on him, Tamme could be the replacement as a slot WR/3rd down TE.

RB/WR, Christopher Johnson (profile) (another)
Pro: One of the fastest players in college football, an excellent receiver and return threat, could be a WR or 3rd down back.
Con: Blocking needs work, not an effective inside runner, likely never to be an every down back, may be unable to play full time at WR or RB at an NFL level after bouncing between the two throughout college.
He could add even more flexibility to the Colts offense while taking over kick (and possibly punt) return duties, or we could cut off his hands and attach them to Kenton Keith.

WR, Andre Caldwell, (profile) A big play threat with the hands to catch the most passes in the history of the Florida Gators. Caldwell is fast, runs good routes and is quick out of cuts. At 6 foot 200lbs he looks like the rest of the Colts WR corps.

DT, Frank Okam (profile) a massive 6'5" 320lb DT with quickness, who is likely to be gone long before this pick.

OT/OG, Chad Rinehart (profile) A dominant Left Tackle at the 1-AA level for Northern Iowa, he was all the physical tools to be successful in the NFL at tackle or guard.

OT/OG Heath Benedict (profile) Like Rinehart a small school star, all the tools, but didn't face top competition. Benedict began at Tennessee, but academic problems caused his move to D-II.

FB Jacob Hester (profile) another HB/FB tweener. Good hands, converts short yardage situations often and is great on special teams. Not fast or explosive as a HB and not a powerful lead blocking FB.

Round 4:
TE, Jacob Tamme, again. Better value this time.

WR, DJ Hall (profile) Depth at receiver is good.