Is it drafty in here?
We’re only a few short days away from the 2007 NFL Draft. Since the rest of the men in this country are hurriedly making proclamations and prognoses regarding this year’s crop of talent and NFL GM guffaws, I felt obliged to do the same.
Take, for example, the IndyStar’s wonderful resident cynic Bob Kravitz. He wrote yet another doom & gloom article this past Sunday woefully questioning the moves made by Colts’ management this off-season. In particular, the release of Cato June, and the (imminent) loss of Jason David to New Orleans.
Now, those of you who know me KNOW that I’m not a huge fan of either player. Cato June happened to be the right player, at the right time, in the right system. He had a stellar year in 2005 which landed him in the Pro Bowl, largely a result of being an undersized and overquicked OLB with a penchant for roaming into zone soft spots. Well done, sir, in anticipating the laser-accurate passes of David Carr, Byron Leftwich, and an oft-injured and fading Steve McNair. June’s proponents will quickly point out that he led the team in tackles in 2006, and his total surpassed that of Urlacher, Briggs, and several other top-tier linebackers. However, what always frustrated me was how many tackles he MISSED. His technique seemed to be lacking (see the beautiful missed arm tackle of Maurice Jones-Drew in last year’s Jacksonville Slaughter), and always had difficulty shedding blockers. Was he a great coverage linebacker? No doubt about it. The problem is, linebackers are supposed to be bloodthirsty killers hellbent on burying the opposing running back and any lardo lineman who gets in his way.
Enter the new guy, Freddy Keiaho, a rookie last year who saw action in precious few games, but made his presence felt when he was on the field. Particularly the New England regular season game. The Colts’ GM Bill Polian has a knack for finding great linebackers late in the draft, and letting the coaching staff develop them into all-pro studs. Just look at Mike Peterson, Marcus Washington, David Thornton, and now Cato June. My gut feeling is that Polian knew we would have to let June walk due to salary cap restrictions (and the fact that we have, appropriately, spent the majority of our dollars on assembling one of the best offenses in the history of the NFL), and that he drafted Keiaho to be another linebacker in the mold of the aforementioned hitmen.
As for Jason David, well, if you’re a Colts fan like me, Kravitz’s exception to this departure is a real head scratcher. Why keep a 5′8″ corner who, when citing hobbies and interests on MySpace, listed getting beat deep and pass interference. My feeling is that Kelvin Hayden (who excited quite a few of us with his spectacular interception-return-for-touchdown in the Super Bowl), and Marlin Jackson will do quite nicely in the two newly open cornerback positions.
This leads me to my actual draft prediction. I see the Colts taking *crosses fingers* someone like WR Ted Ginn in the first round, or possibly LB Paul Posluzny (to replace Keiaho when he leaves in a couple years). Ginn would give us a deep threat we’ve never seen. Not to take anything away from Reggie Wayne and Marvin Harrison, but those two are Pro Bowlers not because of their speed, but because of their sure hands, crisp route-running, and spectacular catch ability. Last year we saw many defenses frustrate our offense with a “keep them in front of you” coverage, which Ginn has the pure speed to extend, giving Harrison & Wayne more room underneath to make plays. God knows with the mass exodus on the other side of the ball, we’re not gonna repeat by relying on this defense.
