Draft Day Review

[ZiaColt]

Originally Posted by Chromeburn

Well I have figured out that I have no idea who Ballard will pick in these drafts.

I didn't want Nelson, but I can't argue with the strategy of protecting Luck as first priority. And it literally took the best lineman Charlie Casserly has seen in the last 20 years to make me ok with it. After seeing so many linemen go in the first two rounds, you can tell the league is desperate for oline. Maybe this new minor league will help develop oline, because it is obviously not happening in the league.

I'm ok with Leonard and Smith. Smith is a nasty OG who can play a couple different positions. I figured Leonard would go around mid second. After the first 4 LB's the depth fell off a cliff.

The biggest thing I did not like about this draft was Turay and Lewis. Ballard likes his athletic freaks for pass rushers and he will take that over a lesser athlete with better production. I don't necessarily agree. But Turay is a really freak athlete, he will need a lot of coaching to get there though. The guy just doesn't understand football all that well yet.

Lewis wasn't my first choice, but he is a good run defender and he can move inside. I liked a few other guys better and I think we would have drafted them, but it seems they were injured and why they fell. Both these guys are hard workers so hopefully they develop. I would have invested in one of the corners b/c you knew a CB run was going to happen and it started right after the Turay pick.

As for day 3, I like all the picks. Hines will be split out into the slot a lot I bet. He should be very dangerous in the open field.

Wilkins will be a nice back to pair with Mack. I saw the Forte comparisons and they are right on. Give him some holes and he should be a very good back.

Fountain will need some development but he has good get off the line. Reich likes his guys to explode off the line and that first ten yards is very important.

Deon Cain was a value grab, he probably should not have been there. I think he will out perform his draft position. As long as he doesn't screw up off the field, I like the pick.

Adams and Franklin were an attempt to bring in some speed to LB and some guys that can hit. They will be on ST and if they get some playing time, even better.

As for the Anderson trade, yeah it sucks, I liked him. But he just doesn't fit the scheme. I think they figured that out during the mini-camp.

One more thing, did we draft out MIKE in last years draft? Anthony Walker?

So the biggest thing is all these guys are good athletes and we got a lot more athletic with this draft. Below is the RAS for our picks.


Not one guy is below 5.00, three of them are above 7.00, and five are above 9.0. Clearly Ballard and Reich place a premium on athleticism, and this is why he wanted a staff that can teach.

And I am disappointed we didn't bring back the monkey to make picks, just to see Mayock lose his shit.

I'm kinda having the same general reaction: I'm OK with Nelson at #6 and then Leonard (especially if Ballard felt Leonard is similar to Roquan and wouldn't be there at the end of Round 2) and I'm even OK with B. Smith over J. Jackson (if Ballard feels Smith can play 2 positions and CB isn't convinced at this point that Mewhort will be a long-term guy).

I could even accept Turay OR Lewis, but I have a hard time accepting both when CBs like D. Jackson, I. Oliver and C. Davis were out there. IMO both of those picks were reaches (and I don't mind an occasional reach in between BPA picks) but the Colts' depth at CB is to me at least as troublesome as it is at DL with Sheard, Basham, Simon and Autry already there.

If Mathis convinced Ballard he could turn Turay into a bigger version of himself and/or Freeney, fair enough. But I wish they'd then tried to put themselves in a position in the next round to pick Davis, who I thought had real potential in Eberflus' defense.

Lewis may too, but at 260-some lbs it's hard for me to see how effective he can be inside; if anything, he seems like more of a complementary DE to Turay on the other side.

The later guys I'm OK with; I would've been inclined to favor St. Brown over Fountain, if only due to level of competition, but they're similar players. I'd thought for some time that Cain might be a guy who'd drop and be there in a later round for some team to pick up. If nothing else, he has the speed to take the top off a defense; we'll see what Sirianni and Patullo can do with him.

Even more so with Hines' speed all over the field. The 2 LBs I assume were drafted for their speed/mobility, so if nothing else maybe they'll help with an upgrade in special teams.

Looks like Hill, Meeks, Facyson and Toliver have already been scooped up, so I guess at this point our best hope for CB depth will be with the UNLV player.