[lex24]

According to Irsay the Colts got numerous trade offers for Luck. Including one that included an “unprecedented” number of first round picks. I suspect he’s exaggerating. But I also don’t doubt they got offers. Sure wish they accepted one. I was please don’t to see they took offensive linemen with their first two picks.

[lex24]

According to Irsay the Colts got numerous trade offers for Luck. Including one that included an “unprecedented” number of first round picks. I suspect he’s exaggerating. But I also don’t doubt they got offers. Sure wish they accepted one. I was please don’t to see they took offensive linemen with their first two picks.

[qwerty49]

I hope it’s not a case of too little too late. The Irsays finally ran out of draft picks to trade away for overrated Bama backs.

[qwerty49]

I hope it’s not a case of too little too late. The Irsays finally ran out of draft picks to trade away for overrated Bama backs.

[ColoradoTree]

That team had so many holes that they couldn't fill all of them in one draft (or even two or three). I'm happy for Andrew's sake that they got two guards (including what some have said is the best OL prospect in 20 years) to go with a very good center (Ryan Kelly) and a pretty good left tackle (Anthony Castonzo). In one fell swoop, you take a position group that has been a liability Andrew's entire career and you turn it into a strength, at least on paper.

I would've been excited for them to get someone like Derrius Guice or Ronald Jones II in the second round, or one of those great receivers, but this receiver class had a lot of depth, and early-round running backs generally don't give you great value. I really like what they did at the skill positions later in the draft, getting an absolute burner (4.38 40) in Nyheim Hines (RB, N.C. State) and pairing him with a SEC back with excellent vision (Jordan Wilkins, RB, Ole Miss). They needed a couple of receivers to go with T.Y. Hilton and free agent acquisition Ryan Grant, and they picked up some good ones, Northern Iowa's Daurice Fountain (a fast, big-bodied small-school receiver who was very productive in college and also is a freak athlete--his Pro Day vertical and broad jump were better than any WR numbers at the combine) and Clemson's Deon Cain (another tall, fast receiver who was a popular deep threat for Deshaun Watson two years ago, when he averaged an insane 19.1 ypc, but operated more as a possession receiver last year, a role he also played well). You figure Hines is your early-down RB, mixing in with Wilkins, Marlon Mack from last year's draft is your third-down guy on passing downs, and Robert Turbin is your short-yardage hammer. At receiver, you've got TY Hilton as your do-everything guy, Ryan Grant as a very good possession receiver, and now Cain as a deep threat and Fountain, with his jumping ability and dominance with 50-50 balls, as a likely red zone target.

So, if you're a Colts fan, you can quibble with some of the value that you got out of the defensive picks, and you are certainly correct that you could have gotten better overall with those Day 2 picks, but if you're primarily an *Andrew* fan, then you have to be happy that the Colts made a concerted effort in this draft to (1) protect him, (2) give him versatile weapons, and (3) improve the running game to take some of the weight of Luck in carrying the offense.

Focusing on guards and leaving tackles for another day seems smart, given how Luck operates within the pocket. He's disciplined, and he's going to step up in the pocket to avoid the rush rather than scramble outside. But bad guard play means that pocket will collapse before he can have a chance to step up, especially given the rise of elite interior pass rushers in today's NFL. Yes, the Colts could still use a better right tackle, but given how Andrew plays, I think leaving RT for another day was smart.

[ColoradoTree]

That team had so many holes that they couldn't fill all of them in one draft (or even two or three). I'm happy for Andrew's sake that they got two guards (including what some have said is the best OL prospect in 20 years) to go with a very good center (Ryan Kelly) and a pretty good left tackle (Anthony Castonzo). In one fell swoop, you take a position group that has been a liability Andrew's entire career and you turn it into a strength, at least on paper.

I would've been excited for them to get someone like Derrius Guice or Ronald Jones II in the second round, or one of those great receivers, but this receiver class had a lot of depth, and early-round running backs generally don't give you great value. I really like what they did at the skill positions later in the draft, getting an absolute burner (4.38 40) in Nyheim Hines (RB, N.C. State) and pairing him with a SEC back with excellent vision (Jordan Wilkins, RB, Ole Miss). They needed a couple of receivers to go with T.Y. Hilton and free agent acquisition Ryan Grant, and they picked up some good ones, Northern Iowa's Daurice Fountain (a fast, big-bodied small-school receiver who was very productive in college and also is a freak athlete--his Pro Day vertical and broad jump were better than any WR numbers at the combine) and Clemson's Deon Cain (another tall, fast receiver who was a popular deep threat for Deshaun Watson two years ago, when he averaged an insane 19.1 ypc, but operated more as a possession receiver last year, a role he also played well). You figure Hines is your early-down RB, mixing in with Wilkins, Marlon Mack from last year's draft is your third-down guy on passing downs, and Robert Turbin is your short-yardage hammer. At receiver, you've got TY Hilton as your do-everything guy, Ryan Grant as a very good possession receiver, and now Cain as a deep threat and Fountain, with his jumping ability and dominance with 50-50 balls, as a likely red zone target.

So, if you're a Colts fan, you can quibble with some of the value that you got out of the defensive picks, and you are certainly correct that you could have gotten better overall with those Day 2 picks, but if you're primarily an *Andrew* fan, then you have to be happy that the Colts made a concerted effort in this draft to (1) protect him, (2) give him versatile weapons, and (3) improve the running game to take some of the weight of Luck in carrying the offense.

Focusing on guards and leaving tackles for another day seems smart, given how Luck operates within the pocket. He's disciplined, and he's going to step up in the pocket to avoid the rush rather than scramble outside. But bad guard play means that pocket will collapse before he can have a chance to step up, especially given the rise of elite interior pass rushers in today's NFL. Yes, the Colts could still use a better right tackle, but given how Andrew plays, I think leaving RT for another day was smart.