NFL Draft Notes:

After looking over the Colts draft, I think a caller into my Sunday Night show said it best when he mentioned that this was “long overdue.” The offensive line needed a little support. They needed depth badly. As good as the starting unit is, injuries, as we saw last year, can be disasterious. I like the picks. Mike Pollak can compete for a starting job at right guard while serving as insurance for Jeff Saturday who is in the last year of his deal. The rest of the Colts draft class shakes out like this:

Round 3: LB Phillip Wheeler from GA Tech (Good open field tackler. Good speed and good fit for the cover 2. If he doesn’t play a lot of LB, look for his impact on special teams.)

Round 4: TE Jacob Tamme from Kentucky (Converted WR who went to play TE. Has great size at 6′4 and 234 lbs. Look for him to help fill the void left from Ben Utecht.)

Round 5: LB Marcus Howard from Georgia (Great pass rusher. Not much on coverage, but could be used like Robert Mathis who was also a LB in college.)

Round 6: TE Ton Santi from Virginia (Tamme will be the pass catching TE, while Santi will be the blocking TE.)

Round 6: C Steve Justice from Wake Forest (another insurance policy for Jeff Saturday and can also play guard which is needed badly.)

Round 6: RB Mike Hart from Michigan (Will have a spirited competition with Kenton Kieth for the back-up RB spot. Not fast, but great skills. Hard runner who could pick-up those tough 3rd and shorts. Also a good blocker with a chip on his shoulders. He will either win the back-up RB spot or be the last one cut.)

Round 6: WR Pierre Garcon from Mt. Union (Speedy with great hands, but can he do it against top notch competition?)

Round 7: C Jamey Richard from Buffalo (More depth for the line and hopefully one of the 3 centers drafted can be the eventual replacement for Jeff Saturday.)

       As for the rest of the NFL, It wasn’t a draft filled with big name guys, but the few that had those names didn’t fare very well.

-Hawaii QB Colt Brennan went in round 6 to Washington
-USC QB John David Booty went in round 5 to Minnesota
-Tennessee QB Erik Ainge went in round 5 to the NY Jets
-Michigan WR Mario Manningham went in round 3 to the NY Giants
-Notre Dame S Tom Zibikowski went in round 3 to Baltimore

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