Look back at some recent Colts draft oopsies
The Colts are off to one of their worst starts in fifteen years and most people contribute it to Peyton Manning being out. While that is certainly a large portion of it, a lot of blame has to be placed on the Colts front office and G.M. Bill Polian. It can be argued that no team has done as bad of drafting in the last four years as the Colts. Anytime you watch a Sunday night or Monday night football game that features the Colts you usually get a handful of references to how great a general manager Bill Polian is. Yes he did draft Peyton Manning, Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark, and Dwight Freeney, but the guy needs to get more heat for how badly he’s drafted in recent years, especially when it comes to the first round. He has continually ingored needs and made luxury picks and that has finally come to bite him and the team square in the ass. Let’s take a look.
2007
The Colts ingored needs on the defensive side of the ball and selected WR Anthony Gonzales. He had a decent first two seasons in the league, but has rarely seen the field since, as he’s been dogged by injuries. They then traded a first round pick to get OT Tony Ugoh who no one thought was worth trading a third round pick for let alone a future first rounder. He played well for a few seasons but was cut and now can’t even start on a below average Detroit Lions’ offensive line. Their third round pick that year, DT Quinn Pitcock decided he’d rather stay home and play video games, and retired during training camp. The only other player who stands out in this class is LB Clint Session, and he is now starting for the rival Jaguars.
First Rounder They Could Have Had: David Harris LB, Michigan
2008
The Colts didn’t have a first rounder this year due to the Tony Ugoh trade. They once again decided to upgrade their offensive line with their first pick taking ASU G/C Mike Pollak with the 59th selection. He started off pretty good but his play fizzled and he was relegated to the bench. This class was better though, as it produced contributors like Jacob Tamme, Pierre Garcon, Jamey Richard, and Philip Wheeler.
First Rounder They Could Have Had: Kenny Phillips S, Miami
2009
The Colts entered the draft with two major areas of need, defensive tackle, and offensive line. They could absolutely not stop the run. So what does Bill Polian do? He takes a RB from UCONN with his first pick. This was probably one of the biggest head scratchers on that draft day, as most didn’t think it was a need for the team and most scouts had LeSean McCoy as a better prospect. Brown has been a major dissapointment and now is third on the team’s depth chart. He tried to fill the defensive line need with their next pick DT Fili Moala, but he has been disappointing so far. Like Darth Vader, this class did have some good left in it, with WR Austin Collie, CB Jerraud Powers, and P Pat McAfee and current starting QB Curtis Painter.
First Rounder They Could Have Had: Brandon Flowers, CB Virginia Tech
2010
This could arguably Polian’s worst class. Heading into the draft his franchise QB Peyton Manning made it abudndantly clear that he needs better protection up front. So the team is on the clock and has big Indiana OT Rodger Saffold sitting there and what do they do? Take DE Jerry Hughes who plays a position where they are already seat with Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis. Then Saffold goes on to have a brilliant rookie season and looks like a future franchise left tackle, and Jerry Hughes has made 7 tackles in almost one and a half seasons. The only good thing to come out of this class were couple of linebackers. Pat Angerer who while being undersized, appears to be a true tackling machine, and late round selection Kavell Conner has played above expectations.
First Rounder They Could Have Had: Rodger Saffold OT, Indiana
2011
Obviously it’s too early to tell how Polian’s most recent draft will pan out but one thing is clear he definitely filled need areas and didn’t get cute. Early returns on OT Anthony Castonzo are positive and DT Drake Nevis has made a lot of plays early in the season. RB Delone Carter looks promising as well.
It’s easy to go back in hindsight and say what a team could have or should have done. But when a G.M. blows first round picks year after year he needs to be called out on it, even if that G.M. is someone with a track record as good as Bill Polian’s.
