Cichy is gone but Scales would be a nice addition as an ILB.

Was that Pagano in a Manning jersey?

LB Mathew Adams with the first 7th rounder

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLN2fTP1TtA

would it be too much to ask for a K. Tolliver or H. Hill here?

Meeks, Fant, Facyson, Levi Wallace

A lot of these guys will hit UDFA status

Zaire Franklin. Who is that?

Meeks is too slow (supposedly) to be a pure cover guy but might be fine in zone stuff

Hard to think anyone could play DB for Virginia Tech unless they had talent, so maybe Facyson as a FA?

Our last pick is ILB Zaire Franklin from Syracuse

http://www.syracuse.com/orangefootba...l_pro_day.html

Sub package defender. Was center piece of their defense. Good range and quickness. Will assist on ST. Of course human draft encyclopedia Mel Kiper knew all about him.

http://www.patriots.com/video/2018/0...in-lb-syracuse

Overall: Colts pass pro, run block, run game improved this draft. Pass game improved if Luck returns (duh).

Defense is actually worse than last year, somehow.

They would both be decent zone corners. What I'm looking for really.

I bet we saw this kid while scouting Nelson because he made a lot of plays against ND. Flashed good closing speed and tackling against them.

Nelson actually had to tackle him on an interception he made.

Why because Hankins, Melvin and Anderson are gone?

Didn't follow along with the draft today but it looks like more of Ballard trying to show the world how smart he is. It's great if it works--everyone would know he didn't just rely on whatever known names were on the board for each pick. If it fails, then he's no more than a more cordial version of Grigson.

I don't get this. Why because he didn't draft from the best available on what draft service you like to use? Who knows how these picks will turn out. But I wouldn't let pundit boards tell you exactly who should go where. they are usually pretty good with the first round but start to fall off after that. They are not making picks, their jobs do not rest on the picks they make. And they are not privy to a whole ton of information like interviews, personal workouts, etc. And a great many of them like walterfootball are used by teams to feed misinformation.

Exactly. There is some good talent still out there because very many teams took players off of their boards, for reasons we will find out about later.

Not to mention that nearly every other team did the same thing Ballard has done this draft

I saw lots of 'scouting' services make commentary and they couldn't figure out why this guy or that guy fell who was on their list. Then information would slowly come out, he was weird during his interview, or he was injured, a lot of guys had injuries and didn't have surgery to fix it. The NFL is a small community and they share information with each other, like a gossipy knitting circle. You bomb and interview with a team, the other teams are likely to hear about it.

I like all the pundit information, it is fun to read, but every year there is some fans that read some draft guide and saw some guy who fell or was taken too early and they get pissed. NFL teams have staffs that range from 30-50 guys now working on these things. No pundit service is going to rival that talent and staff.

This was a poor day for the Colts draft team. Fortunately, late round guys aren't difference makers anyway. It's important to get the top of the draft right. Ballard did that, so let's see what happens. This is a multi-year rebuild anyway.

That's amazing how you got today pegged as a lousy day for the Colts draft team.

Because this team didn't take any defensive difference-makers who will be ready to go Day 1, and many of the returning players from last year aren't ideal scheme fits.

Probably better to wait until Day 1 to see if the three defensive players taken in the 2nd are ready. Where did you want the defensive playmakers taken? I dont get it, the most important piece of this team needs protection. With two picks Ballard may have solved the problem of protecting Luck. I'll take that first over a possible playmaker on defense. JMO, tired of seeing the Colts rank near the top in sacks allowed and near the bottom in all aspects of the running game.

Patriots do pretty well finding their skill talent in the second half of the draft. The best most athletic linemen are usually found in the top three rounds. I think we will find success if we stay with that pattern. And hopefully we are done spending high picks on oline, unless we find a new left tackle down the road.

I think Leonard will be a pretty big upgrade from Day 1. Overall, just having better athletes on the fast LOS surface will be an improvement.

I don't know medicals, character, etc., but Landry and Jackson would likely have a bigger Day 1 impact than what Ballard went with. The fun thing about football is that we'll be able to see over the next few years if he was right or wrong.

If I had to guess, I think he stayed away from anyone with any character concerns. He's trying to establish a strong culture, so that probably played a key role in his final evaluations at this stage of team building.

Agree that high character was a consistent theme amoung the guys we picked.

Additionally, it appears that Ballard tended towards athletic ability (testing) over college production. It appears that he will trust his coaching staff to take athletic kids and turn them into better football players in the pros than they were in college.

Risky way to go but if it works....

Walk Worthy,

That's certainly true and I think it plays into how Ballard is trying to build this team. These seem to be the things most important to his philosophy:

-Win at line of scrimmage
-Speed and athleticism
-Character
-Create turnovers

I think we'll see a lot more emphasis on that last point in the next few drafts.