Worst Draft Picks for each Colts GM

[IndyNorm]

I'm taking the night off of arguing over Ballard, but thought it'd be fun to expand on the side conversation in the FA thread on really bad draft picks.

So list in your opinion the worst draft pick for each of the Colts GMs in the Indy era along with an honorable mention(s) if you want. Here are mine:

Irsay - Jeff George, at least when considering how much we gave up to unnecessarily trade up to #1 overall and select him.

Tobin - Trev Alberts. Honorable mention: Dedric Mathis

Polian - Tony Ugoh. Honorable mentions: Gilbert Gardner, Sweet Pea Burns

Grigson - Bjorn Werner. Honorable mention: everyone else drafted by Grigson from '13 on except for Kelly, Mewhort, and I guess Moncrief

Ballard - Tarrell Basham - and what was worse that wasting a pick on him is that we cut a productive LB/DE in John Simon in '18, who went on to help the Cheats win the SB, to keep Basham only to cut his worthless ass like 2 weeks later. Honorable mentions: Quincy Wilson, Ben Banogu.

[Oldcolt]

Ernie Accorsi- Johnny Cooks at 2, Art Schlischter at 4 in 1982.

Or how about the run from 1976-1978: Ken Novak, Randy Burke and Reese McCall Joe Thomas and Dick Szymanski ran those draft and I remember them. There have been so many shit drafts by this team over the years,

[Colts And Orioles]

Originally Posted by Oldcolt

Ernie Accorsi- Johnny Cooks at 2, Art Schlichter at 4 in 1982.

Or how about the run from 1976-1978: Ken Novak, Randy Burke, and Reese McCall ...... Joe Thomas and Dick Szymanski ran those drafts, and I remember them. There have been so many shit drafts by this team over the years.

o


Joe Thomas rebuilt the Baltimore Colts, turning what was an aging, awful team into a bona-fide contender that won 3 consecutive AFC East championships from 1975 through 1977.

From 1972 through 1974, the Colts had had 3 consecutive losing seasons, with each one being worse than the previous. They went 5-9 in 1972, 4-10 in 1973, and 2-12 in 1974. After the Colts started the 1975 season at 1-4, I thought to myself, "Here we go again" ...... and then the Colts ran off 9 straight wins, including 2 over the defending AFC East champion Miami Dolphins. At that time, the turnaround from 2-12 in 1974 to 10-4 in 1975 was the biggest ever in NFL history. During that 9-game winning streak, I sometimes wondered whether or not I was dreaming or if it was really happening.

Robert Irsay fired Thomas one month after the conclusion of the 1976 season.

o

[Oldcolt]

C & O, we went through the same emotions. Back then the draft was the highlight of being a Colts fan. So glad those days are behind us.

[CletusPyle]

Originally Posted by IndyNorm

I'm taking the night off of arguing over Ballard, but thought it'd be fun to expand on the side conversation in the FA thread on really bad draft picks.

So list in your opinion the worst draft pick for each of the Colts GMs in the Indy era along with an honorable mention(s) if you want. Here are mine:

Irsay - Jeff George, at least when considering how much we gave up to unnecessarily trade up to #1 overall and select him. Honorable mention: Art Schlichter

Tobin - Trev Alberts. Honorable mention: Dedric Mathis

Polian - Tony Ugoh. Honorable mentions: Gilbert Gardner, Sweet Pea Burns

Grigson - Bjorn Werner. Honorable mention: everyone else drafted by Grigson from '13 on except for Kelly, Mewhort, and I guess Moncrief

Ballard - Tarrell Basham - and what was worse that wasting a pick on him is that we cut a productive LB/DE in John Simon in '18, who went on to help the Cheats win the SB, to keep Basham only to cut his worthless ass like 2 weeks later. Honorable mentions: Quincy Wilson, Ben Banogu.

It's hard to disagree with any of these...maybe Irsay picking Steve Emtman number 1 overall in 1992 deserves honorable mention. Good post!

[AlwaysSunnyinIndy]

Originally Posted by IndyNorm

Tarrell Basham - and what was worse that wasting a pick on him is that we cut a productive LB/DE in John Simon in '18

I guess you are wanting to judge each player based on their Colts career only?

FWIW - Basham is still playing in the NFL - he finished his fifth year in the league and is under contract for Year 6.

He has played in over 50% of the snaps on defense in each of the last 3 years.

He has recorded double digit QB hits the last 2 years.

Sometimes it takes a bit longer to develop defensive linemen.

[IndyNorm]

Originally Posted by Oldcolt

Ernie Accorsi- Johnny Cooks at 2, Art Schlischter at 4 in 1982.

Or how about the run from 1976-1978: Ken Novak, Randy Burke and Reese McCall Joe Thomas and Dick Szymanski ran those draft and I remember them. There have been so many shit drafts by this team over the years,

Good catch on the Schlichter. That was a little before my time, but I remembered that he played a little after the Colts moved to Indy so I thought he was drafted after the whole Elway debacle. The fact that he was picked #4 overall the year before that makes the early '80s Colts look even worse

[IndyNorm]

Originally Posted by AlwaysSunnyinIndy

I guess you are wanting to judge each player based on their Colts career only?

FWIW - Basham is still playing in the NFL - he finished his fifth year in the league and is under contract for Year 6.

He has played in over 50% of the snaps on defense in each of the last 3 years.

He has recorded double digit QB hits the last 2 years.

Sometimes it takes a bit longer to develop defensive linemen.

Yeah, impact for the Colts. Otherwise Jeff George wouldn't be on my list since he did end up having a decent overall NFL career.

That is interesting on Basham. I remember seeing that he didn't do anything for the Jets for the remainder of the season after we released him, but good for him that he was able to develop into a contributor.

[Chromeburn]

I’m just going off the top two rounds. It’s a bigger gamble after that.

Ballard - Banagu
Grigson - Phillip Dorsett
Polian - Rob Morris or Idrees Bashir (Morris did show up at Sam in the playoffs)
Polian jr - Ugoh
Tobin - Trev Alberts

[Butter]

I feel like Werner was worse than Dorsett.