2009 Colts Draft Review

Last season the Colts finished with a record of 12-4, but another early exit from the playoffs took a little luster off the strong regular season. I am beginning to think the departure of Tony Dungy is starting to look like a good thing for 2009. I have always been a big fan of Tony Dungy the person, and a big fan of Tony Dungy the talent evaluator. But, I have never been a big fan of Tony Dungy the coach. At first, I wasn't too happy with the Colts hiring Jim Caldwell to replace Tony. But, I have to admit that I have been super happy with what I have seen from Jim Caldwell so far. This year's draft is no exception.

It looks to me like Jim Caldwell may be leaning toward changing a few of the basic philosophies that Dungy brought to Indy. And in my opinion, the things Caldwell is changing are long overdue. So, let's take a look at their draft.

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(27) Donald Brown (RB) UCONN
Brown led the nation in rushing last season as a Junior with 2083 yards. A lot of the scouts think of Brown as being a little undersized, but at 5'10" and 208 pounds he is a quick and powerful running back. He is a great route runner and an exceptional blocker. Brown also has the ability to return kicks and punts, which is something the Colts could definitely use. Most importantly to me, Brown is a strong character guy. I think this was strong pick for the Colts. I will admit that I was hoping they would draft a linebacker with their first pick, but if I was going to pick a running back, Donald Brown is the guy I would have gone after. I look for Brown to contribute immediately, although he will initially probably do most of his work on special teams. It has been a long time since the Colts had a running back with this kind of speed.

(56) Fili Moala (DT) USC
This is the first pick where I thought Jim Caldwell appeared to be taking a different route than Tony Dungy would have taken. Moala tips the scales at 305 pounds, which looks like a bit of a departure from the Tony Dungy style of defense. Moala's weight, however, is a little misleading. Most scouts agree that Moala does not play like a 300 pound DT. The strength of Moala's game is his quickness and perpetual motor. This guy does not take any play off. He is considered a bit of a project because his technique is not considered to be ready for the NFL. Moala is a slasher and a dasher and I think his selection signals that Jim Caldwell was looking for a guy who could get into the opponents backfield to make some plays. Moala should figure into the defensive line rotation this year, but I am not sure he is the run stopper that many people are probably hoping he would be. But, his size and quickness should allow him to play at either DE or DT positions. I think this was a decent value pick.

(92) Jerraud Powers (CB) AUBURN
This pick also seems to stray a little bit from the Tony Dungy defensive philosophy. Tony always seemed to like the big hard hitting CB's that could play the Cover 2 and come up and hit a running back out of the backfield. While Powers is considered to be a physical CB, he is also a bit undersized at 5'9" and 188 pounds. I'm sure Powers could excel in the Cover 2, but he made a name for himself in the SEC by covering a lot of quick receivers one on one. To me, this pick signifies that Jim Caldwell may be a little more aggressive with his defensive schemes than what Tony Dungy was. Powers looks like a guy that could lock up a wide receiver long enough for the Colts to bring a blitz, which is something that Tony Dungy and Ron Meeks didn't do as often as I would have liked. I really like the selection of Powers, but I'm not sure he is far enough along to be a contributor this season.

(127) Austin Collie (WR) BYU
This was a home run as far as I am concerned. Collie led the nation in receiving yards last year as a Junior. He is a great route runner with exceptionally soft hands. In my opinion, he could be the second coming of Brandon Stokely. He is the prototypical slot receiver and I expect him to get playing time almost immediately. He is smart enough to grasp the Colts offense and he is another strong character guy. The knock on Collie is his speed. I don't expect his speed to hurt him too much because I think most of the opposing defenses are going to have to focus on Wayne and Gonzalez. This means that Collie is probably going to be facing Safeties and Linebackers most of the time he is running routes. I like this pick and I think it was steal at 127.

(136) Terrance Taylor (DT) MICHIGAN
This may turn out to be the best pick of the draft for the Colts. At 6'0" and 320 pounds, Taylor is a massive run stopping DT. This guy had one speed in college, and that speed was full throttle. Taylor is the type of guy that will almost always demand a double team if the opponent runs the ball anywhere near him. He is quick and strong with a background in power lifting. Taylor is not known as a pass rusher, but his presence on the field will undoubtedly create situational nightmares for teams that like to double team Freeney and Mathis. I like this pick, and I fully expect to see Taylor on the field a lot this season. To me, this is the only pick the Colts made that really addresses the issues they had last season trying to stop the run.

(201) Curtis Painter (QB) PURDUE
I found this pick to probably be the most interesting the Colts made this year. If you have followed this blog in the past, you know that I am not a fan of Jim Sorgi. Jim always plays well in pre season games, and when there is nothing on the line. But, when the opponents put a little pressure on him he tends to fold like a cheap piece of copy paper. I find it very telling that Jim Caldwell, formerly the Colts quarterback coach, would spend a draft pick on another quarterback in his first draft as the Colts head coach. This pick tells me that Jim Caldwell may not be as infatuated with Jim Sorgi as Tony Dungy seemed to be. I know Curtis Painter didn't have a great Senior year at Purdue, but let's not forget that Painter comes out of the same system that produced Drew Brees and Kyle Orton. Painter has NFL caliber arm strength, decent size (6'4"), and a decent 40 time (4.87). If Painter's injured shoulder has healed sufficiently, and he turns out to be smart enough to learn the Colts complex offensive scheme, I could honestly see him eventually supplanting Jim Sorgi as the Colts official clip board holder.

(222) Pat McAfee (K) WEST VIRGINIA
A lot of people have questioned this pick because the Colts obviously already have a pretty decent kicker on the roster. But, I don't believe the Colts drafted McAfee to be a kicker. Instead, I think the Colts intend on McAfee replacing the recently departed Hunter Smith as the team's punter and occasional kick-off man. McAfee averaged 43.7 yards per punt in his college career and was one of three finalists for the Ray Guy award during his Senior season. I think this pick obviously fills a need and also provides the Colts with a back-up kicker in case Vinatieri would happen to get hurt again. To me, this is a decent value pick and I can't complain.

(236) Jaimie Thomas (OL) Maryland
I don't know a whole lot about Thomas, but Bill Polian always seems to do extremely well finding serviceable offensive lineman in the later rounds. Thomas has decent size at 6'4" and 330 pounds, but most scouting reports knock him for not being too agile in the open field. On paper he doesn't seem like a good fit for the Colts offensive line, but he has the credentials to end up being a decent stopgap in case someone were to get injured. I don't ever see Thomas becoming a regular starter for the Colts, but you never know what Howard Mudd might be able to accomplish with this kid. I would have rather seen the Colts take a linebacker with this pick.

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My Take:

The Colts draft this year is a tough one for me to rate. Overall, I am very happy with the players that Bill Polian and Jim Caldwell were able to get. But, I have the same complaint with this draft that I have every year with the Colts. To me, the most important position in a Cover 2 dominant defense is that of the linebacker. And again, the Colts seemed to have overlooked some very obvious linebacker talent in the draft. Unfortunately, it looks to me like the Colts are in worse shape at linebacker right now than any year I can remember in recent history.

According to the Colts official roster, which was updated on 4-26-09, the Colts currently have the following linebackers in fold: Rufus Alexander, Gary Brackett, TyJuan Hagler, Michael Okwo, Jordan Senn, Clint Session, Adam Seward, and Philip Wheeler. Of those players, only Brackett, Hagler, and Session have significant experience in the NFL. And, let's be honest, none of them are guys that you would want to build a Cover 2 defense around. So, unless one of the other 5 linebackers on the roster suddenly emerges as a superstar it looks to me like the Colts defense will probably remain weak up the middle for another year. In this aspect, I would have to say the Colts failed to fill a definite need in the draft.

The only logic I can see in the Colts bypassing such obvious linebacker talent in the draft is that the coaching staff may feel like beefing up the D-line will help keep the opponents O-line off of the Colts linebackers. Thus, allowing the linebackers to flow more easily to the ball. Unfortunately, I just don't feel that Hagler or Brackett really excel on their pursuit angles even when they go unblocked. So, beefing up the D-line may not have as big an effect on the Colts run defense as what many people might think. I guess time will tell.

I would rate the Colts draft this year as a B. I think they made a significant upgrade on the defensive line and I think they may have found a very nice slot receiver with Austin Collie. The selection of McAfee looks like a good one in that it gives the Colts a replacement for Hunter Smith and also gives them a back-up kicker. The selection of Donald Brown should give the Colts running game a very nice boost. But, I just couldn't give them an A because I feel their most pressing need was at linebacker and they failed to address that position (again).