Over the last few months, I've seen some odd picks for the Colts in the first round. A month and a half ago, Roger Saffold was a head-scratcher. I've seen picks that made me laugh and shake my head at that mocker's lack of understanding of the Colt's system, like Mt. Cody at #31. But never, ever have I seen a pick that made me yell at my computer in sheer frustration.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d817a6411&template=with-video-with-comments&confirm=true

The link above to NFL.com's analyst mock. Marshall Faulk, representing the Colts at #31, selects....Matt Tennent C, Boston College. That's right, a prospect rated in the third or fourth round is selected by one of the best drafters in the history of the game. Not only is Roger Saffold still on the board (Sorry Shake Dallas took Charles Brown), but Jerry Hughes, who I think is Bill Polian's guy in the first, is still available! Come on Marshall, I expected better from you.

via www.motifake.com

To paraphrase John Oehser, tight end is a hidden need for the Colts as the team beings its campaign to return to the Super Bowl. One the surface, the Colts are set as Dallas Clark, a player who could eventually be inducted into the Hall of Fame, holds the starting position. This is what many casual mockers see and many don’t even have the Colts taking a TE in the entire draft.

However, many of us know better. We see the storm clouds on the horizon. Dallas Clark is entering his 8th season and tight ends have a major drop-off rate as the head toward the end of their careers. Tom Santi, Dallas’s back-up, has shown flashes of being at least a serviceable hybrid-style tight end, but has had difficulty staying healthy. Gjion Robinson has been a less than stellar blocking TE/H-Back roll and Jacob Tamme appears to be unable to push Robinson from the spot. TE depth is a huge issue facing the Colts moving forward.

I see the Colts getting two new TE’s during this draft. I see a hybrid-style successor to Dallas Clark in the third or fourth and an in-line blocker in either the 7th or undrafted (ordinarily I would say the 6th, but there is no 6th rounder this year). Personally, I think the hybrid-style will be Dennis Pitta. He’ll have a year or two to improve on his blocking and, more importantly, he has Dallas-like speed with excellent hands. I also think Austin Collie’s recommendation will carry weight with the front office. Polian signed Lacey after last year’s draft partly because of Bullitt’s recommendation. As for an in-line blocker, I like Garrett Graham out of Wisconsin. Sure handed to run the underneath routes with excellent experience blocking ends and linebackers.

While we have all been talking about needing a new in-line blocking TE, there has been little discussion about a receiving hybrid TE. I fully expect that position to be the annual "Why in the world did Polian make that pick?" Feel free to discuss below

While it may be a little clichéd, I am just too hyped about Sunday’s contest to not write about it. So if you all will kindly indulge me, I proudly present my 5 keys to the game:

(A note: I am not going mention Peyton, because we all know he is key to game. You could write a book on how important he is. So I’ll be writing about other things)

5) The Wide Receiving and Tight End Corps: I am specifically thinking of Pierre Garcon and Reggie Wayne. The Jets are going to blitz, we all know that. When they blitz, that will leave one-on-one on the outside. That means Peyton will be taking shots early and those balls have to be hauled in. A few big touchdowns early over the top can help put this game out of reach

4) The O-line: As I said above, the Jets will blitz. That means that Jeff Saturday is going to be key. He is Peyton’s colonel, the man who makes adjustments and calls to his fellow trenchmen. The big men up front have to keep Peyton upright and, when necessary, open up holes to control the clock.

3) Joseph Addai: I am thinking more as a blocker than a runner, though Joe has improved drastically over last season in that department. Addai is arguably the best pass blocking RB in the league and he needs to be in top form Sunday because there is just as much pressure on him to keep Peyton upright. The same goes for Mike Hart and Donald Brown.

2) The Defense: It might just be me, but the soundbites we’ve gotten from Raheem Brock, Gary Brackett, and Dwight Freeney gives me the impression these guys want to rip someone’s head-off. The D has gotten no love this week, totally overshadowed by the opponents. Again. They want blood and I’m feeling a huge game from them. Remember, Dwight got 2 sacks on Sanchez while on a pitch count back in December.

1) THE 12TH MAN: The front office was lavish with its praise of the fans after the Raven’s win, and with good reason. Aside from the 2006 AFC Championship, I’ve never felt the stadium so charged. It’s time to bring it again, as Raheem has been urging us to do all week. I get the feeling the Jets have no idea how loud The Luke can be, because that December 26 game was no where near playoff atmosphere. Guys, it’s time to bring it again. I want to wake up Monday and hear Rex Ryan complaining about piped in crowd noise, just like a certain hoodie after 2006!

GO COLTS!

I was crusing Pat's Pulpit, just getting a feel for what is being said and goofing off instead of working on my thesis. In the story about the Colt's injuries, I found and interesting post that I'm going to reproduce below:

Tend to engender a lot of respect; the thing about Pats/Colts is that whenever they’ve met in the past decade, it’s always meant something. We play the Colts either in the playoffs, or because both teams made the playoffs in the past years (the NFL schedules playoff teams from prior years for regular season matchups), as opposed to our divisions, where we play them twice a year in the regular season regardless of how good or how bad either team is doing that year.

I think their being contemporary juggernauts means a lot too. We all know that no teams will be on top forever; the Colts and Pats are either others’ Sith/Jedi (pick which side you like for your team :) ). Once they fade, and we’re watching the next dynasties start to grow in other cities, we’ll think back to when these two teams were on top and inextricably tied to one another

That post really got me thinking. Both Pat's fans and we Colt's fans know what it is like to be so bad you're a "circle team" as Peyton said. Both fan bases circle this game and get pumped for it all season and, in some cases, all year. Both know how luck they are to have great quarterbacks and great teams.

Both teams also have memories. The Patriots pounding of Indy in '04 at Gillette. The Colts comeback in '06 at the Dome. These are immortal moments that will live on once both teams are no longer where they are today.

For some reason, that post got me thinking about how, one day, a Colts fan and a Pats fan meet randomly at a bar, have a beer and talk about "the good old days."

Hopefully those day's aren't for a long time though.

I remember Tony Dungy saying in the America’s Team episode about the Colts that he didn’t use bulletin board material. I certainly hope that Jim Caldwell does, because goodness knows there has been enough of it of late. The sheer idiocy of “commentators” like Michael Irvin and Rod Woodson with their crackpot analysis of the Colts offseason should be more than enough to light a fire in the locker room. If we as fans are getting riled up at the fact that our team is, as the late great Rodney Dangerfield said, getting no respect, then imagine what it is doing to the team. Remember in ’06 how the defense played with a chip on their shoulder during the entire playoffs? How they held Larry Johnson, the best back in the game that year with 1,732 yards gained, to only 32 that day? With BBS great post on how the players are taking to Coyer, great personnel moves by Polian in the draft and free agency, and Peyton’s drive I expect a team that will win the AFC South and make a push deep into the playoffs. Should be a fun season.

I’m new to the Pacers blog here on SB Nation, but I am not new to the Pacers. I remember playing basketball in the driveway with my friends and we all wanted to be Reggie Miller. I still have my Rik Smits jersey in my closet, though it stopped fitting me years ago. I remember watching the blue and gold battle with the Knicks and the Bulls for Eastern Conference dominance.

And then something happened. The team changed quickly. The brawl. Arrested players. Divas creating locker room drama. And I, like so many others, began to pay the Pacers less and less attention because they were not putting out a product that I wanted to see.

But in the last two years, things have changed. I’m beginning to watch Pacers basketball again. I’m watching games on TV and going to them when I have a chance. I recognize this team for what it is: rebuilding. People seem upset about the Psycho-T pick, but it fits the mold of what LB and the front office are doing. Chad Ford of ESPN had what I thought was spot-on analysis:

I like the strategy Larry Bird and David Morway have been employing the past couple of years in Indiana. Instead of swinging for the fences in the draft, they are trying for singles and doubles, and they're connecting.

No, Hansbrough wasn't as sexy a pick as Earl Clark or Jrue Holiday, but he will be in the league for 10 years, maybe as a starter, and he brings a toughness and energy the Pacers really need.

Price isn't going to wow anyone, either, but he is steady and can be a solid backup for the Pacers.

Eventually the Pacers will need to find one more star to pair with Danny Granger. And when they do, they'll have built a terrific supporting cast around them that should be able to compete deep into the playoffs.

The baseball metaphor in the first paragraph sums up the last two drafts for me. We as fans have to be patient. The pieces are being put in place. Once that happens, then the front office starts to swing for the fence. Roy Hibbert has shown the potential to the center of the future. Brandon Rush also showed flashes once he got his confidence. Results don’t happen over night. I have the feeling that Hansbrough will be a fine player for the Pacers and that we will look back on this very poor draft and feel glad we got a good player out of a group that produced mostly busts.

This will be a very brief fanpost. I’m busy packing for my return to the U.S. from a semester in Europe, but this was just too much and I had to comment on it. I was reading through a chat with Fran Charles on NFL.com and a Patriots fan named Paul asked if the Patriots would have another perfect season. I burst out laughing.

                First, if you want to call it a perfect season, was a fluke. There were a large number of games that year the Patriots almost lost, including their annual November contest against the Colts. So there is only the slimmest of chances that it happens again.

Second, and most importantly, it was not a perfect season. The Patriots were not undefeated; they lost the Super Bowl. The ’72 Dolphins won EVERYTHING. The Patriots may have gone 16-0 in the regular season, but they went 18-1 overall. Not even the Pat-loving media refers to that as a perfect season.

Only Pats fans will refer to that as their ‘perfect season.’ To the rest of us, it is the ultimate poetic justice: winning every game but the one that matters.

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