Colts personnel

Now that the draft is over we are starting to get an idea of what the thinking of the Colts personnel people was going into the draft. Both Tony Dungy and Bill Polian have now stated that the Colts coaching staff has confidence that some of last years back up players are ready to step up into starting roles with next years team.

They apparently feel that Marlin Jackson and Kelvin Hayden are ready to take over at the starting cornerback positions for Harper and David. And, they also apparently feel that Freddie Kieahu is ready to start at outside linebacker and replace the departed Cato June.

I can understand their feeling that these players are ready to step up because I thought all three of them performed pretty well last year when they were put on the field. But, I must admit that I feel better about the cornerback position than I do about that of the Colt's linebackers. The Colts are pretty deep at cornerback with 8 players now listed on the depth chart. Besides Jackson and Hayden, the Colts also have Tim Jennings who saw considerable action at corner last year.

The linebacker position is what concerns me. Freddie Kieahu played great in the New England game last year when he saw considerable action because of injuries to other players. But, that is the only game that I remember him getting a lot of playing time. Gary Brackett is a decent middle linebacker, but I think he was better on the outside. And I still don't have any confidence in Rob Morris. Rob played pretty good when he was moved to the outside last year, but I have seen too many subpar performances from him over the years to think he is the answer on the outside. The Colts also have Rocky Boiman and Gilbert Gardner who saw some decent playing time last year, but neither really impressed me. I just hope that the Colts find a diamond in the rough with one of the other linebackers currently on the roster. In case you were wondering, the other linebackers on the roster are; Brandon Archer (R), Ramon Guzman (R), Tyuan Hagler (2), Kamichael Hall (R), Brandon Hoyte (1), Mike Labinjo (3), Keith O'neil (5), Clint Session (R), and Victor Worsely (R). There are a lot of rookies and guys who rarely played in that list. I still think they should have drafted Posluszny or Harris.

Let's hope the Colts' personnel people were right.