The key pick in the first round, I thought, was Phillip Dorsett. Nice player, but it made no absolutely no sense, and helped tilt the balance of power in the AFC. Rather, keep it tipped.
The Colts aren’t good enough or mean enough on both lines. Their offensive line isn’t very good. Defensively, they can’t stop a physical running games.
Consider their last three games against the Patriots.
at Patriots 43, Colts 22
LeGarrette Blount runs for 166 yards and 4 TDs.
Patriots 42, at Colts 20
Jonas Gray runs for 201 yards and 4 TDs.
at Patriots 45, Colts 7
LeGarrette Blount runs for 148 yards and 3 TDs.
So here we are at the end of the first round. Massive Malcom Brown has slipped and is sitting there for the taking. He’s the guy to toss into the middle of the defense and stop the hemorrhaging of ground-and-pound yards in these kind of games.
So the pick, of course, is Dorsett. Small and fast. Averaged 24.2 yards per catch last year. A great little player, but the Colts already have T.Y. Hilton, Andre Johnson and Donte Moncrief. And a couple of capable tight ends.
The Patriots, meanwhile, are in a tight spot. They’ve lost both of their starting cornerbacks, including the best cornerback in the game (Darrelle Revis), and they’ve lost Vince Wilfork, the huge defensive tackle they slipped to them in the first round 11 years ago. Without Wilfork, offenses will be gashing them with the run, making it even harder on the two new corners they’ll be working in.
And the Patriots have the last pick in the first round, making it really hard for them to get a player who’ll come in and help right away.
Unless, of course, the Colts hand them a Get Out Of Jail Free card. Which is exactly what they did.
Patriots get the new Wilfork, giving them a chance to keep that defense afloat.
Colts get another fast receiver, but they’re fast become the Loyola-Marymount of the NFL.
Goal for Indianapolis is to climb past New England in the AFC. On that front, they failed miserably on Thursday night.
—Ian Allan