At first glance, it may appear the Indianapolis Colts stepped outside of the box during last weekend’s NFL draft.
Prior to the 2008 Draft, 31 of the team’s last 51 picks were defensive players, an effort that has significantly improved their overall defense the last few years.
However, after suffering crucial losses via retirement and free agency, the team this year focused heavily on the offensive end, particular in shoring up the offensive line. Overall, seven of the Colts nine draft selections were used for offensive players, three of whom are offensive linemen.
After losing starting guard Jake Scott to free agency and still dealing with Tarik Glenn’s retirement, the Colts clearly identified the need for depth on the offensive line.
“We hit the offense a little harder than we usually do,” said Colts head coach Tony Dungy. “But we drafted a lot of good young defensive players last year and a lot of those guys got to play because of our injury situation. We felt like there were a lot of offensive line players that could really help us and it was time to address that.”
Entering this year’s draft without a first round selection, the Colts made Arizona State guard Mike Pollak their first pick, 59th overall. A player the team likens to Pro Bowl Center Jeff Saturday and Ryan Lilja, Pollak is expected to make a strong case for the starting nod at guard this season.
“Just like we did Tony (Ugoh) last year, we’ll give him every opportunity to get his feet wet in training camp,” said Colts President Bill Polian. “It’s high for us as an offensive lineman, but in this draft he merited that choice.”
The Colts continued to shore up the O-Line on day two, acquiring Wake Forest center Steve Justice (201 overall) and Buffalo center Jamie Richard (236 overall) to conclude the draft.
Dungy added these selections ensure the offensive line will have the depth necessary to protect Peyton Manning for years to come.
“Since I’ve been here, we hadn’t really addressed the offensive line,” the coach said. “We take them usually on the second day, but now we had a chance. We’ve got really good players, if you include Tony in this that will help our offensive line way down the road.”
Rounding out their offensive selections, the Colts added tight ends Jacob Tamme (127 overall), Tom Santi (196 overall) and Division III stud receiver Pierre Garcon to complement the team’s offense.
But the “popular pick,” according to Polian came via 6th round selection running back Mike Hart. The University of Michigan’s all time leading rusher, Hart slipped to a late second day pick. Powering Michigan’s offense through a turbulent season last year, the Colts liken Hart to former Colt running back James Mungro, in terms of anticipated productivity.
“With pun intended, this was a ‘heart’ pick by everyone in our room,” Polian said. “Every time we went to see Michigan play, we said Mike Hart’s really something. We’d like to have him on our football team. Virtually everyone that saw him play felt that way.”
The common denominator with each pick, according to Polian, was the level of support and accolades received by their respective coaching staffs.
“All of these guys, virtually every one of them, was recommended by their coach as this is the best guys we had on our football team, this is the hardest working guy, this is the best leader,” Polian said. “You hear that phrase over and over again as you listen to the coaches’ recommendations, which means that the scouts did a great job. They absolutely saw the qualities in players that we really like and they got them on the board in the right place.”
