Thursday, May 1, 2008

Meet Your Undrafted Free Agents

The Colts this week signed 13 undrafted free agents, and surprisingly Rudolph Hardie and Bernard Morris were missing from the list. However, the Colts did bring in some of the most highly touted UDFAs left. Here are the players that could be the next Dominic Rhodes or Gary Brackett.

Rudy Burgess/WR/Arizona State-Burgess is a small wide receiver who was recruited by Arizona State to play cornerback. He runs a 4.49 40, and he is listed as a specialist by Colts.com. Burgess caught 34 passes for 467 yards and led the Sun Devils with a 23.1 average on kickoff returns. Chance of Making 53 man roster: I'd give him a 20% chance, mostly because of his returning ability. However, Pierre Garcon was already drafted for that position. I wouldn't count on seeing number 3 in blue in September.

Dan Davis/DT/Connecticut-Davis was a defensive end/defensive tackle hybrid at Connecticut, and it looks like he will play tackle in training camp for the Colts. His stats aren't amazing (36 tackles, 1 sack). Chance of Making 53 man roster: I say 0%. Keyunta Dawson and UDFA Eric Foster are better equipped for the pass rushing UT than Davis.

Charles Dillon/WR/Washington State-Like Burgess, Dillon is a returner as well as a wide receiver. Dillon ran a faster 40 time than Burgess (4.96), but Dillon averaged almost 3 yards less returning than Burgess. Dillon had similar stats to Burgess, getting 37 passes for 407 yards. Chance of Making 53 man roster: I say a 19.5% chance. I prefer the versatility of Burgess over Dillon.

Colin Ferrell/DT/Kent State-Ferrell is my dark horse candidate for defensive tackle. He ran a 4.8 40 at his Pro Day. He's 293 pounds! He isn't just a Combine player either. He had 15 tackles for loss and 5 sacks last year. His downside is he is very overrated as an actor. Chance of Making 53 man roster: I give him a 60% chance of making the roster. With no defensive tackle drafted, he has a good chance of replacing Dan Klecko.

Brandon Foster/CB/Texas-Foster is a very small corner (5-7) similar to Jason David and Tim Jennings. Foster is extremely fast (4.28), and he set the Texas record for defensive touchdowns last year with 3. Chance of Making 53 man roster: 25%. He could be a great nickel back in the Cover 2.

Eric Foster/DT/Rutgers-Eric Foster is very small for a defensive tackle (265 pounds), so he may need to bulk up about ten pounds. However, he had 7 sacks last year playing in the offensive-oriented Big East. He will contend for the under tackle position. Chance of Making 53 man roster: 40% chance. If he could get up to 275 pounds and not lose his speed, he would be a 95% chance.

Samuel Giguere/WR/Sherbrooke (Canada)-Giguere is an unknown prospect because of his Canadian roots, but he has everything you want in a receiver. Giguere ran a 4.35 40, and he has a 40 inch vertical. He was second in Canada's NCAA called CIS in receiving. Competition is obviously the biggest issue with him, but a 4.35 40 and a 40 inch vertical is great for a giant wide receiver like him. Chance of Making 53 man roster: 15% chance. His competition level will hurt his chances, but if he can perform well on special teams, he could easily make the team.

Curtis Johnson/DE/Clark Atlanta-Johnson is an undersized (239 pound) defensive end-outside linebacker hybrid who terrorized quarterbacks in the Southern conference. In 21 games for Clark, he got 18.5 tackles and 182 tackles. He was one of the best undrafted players, and he was one of the Colts first signings. Chance of Making 53 man roster: 60% chance. This guy is a freak of nature. He is extremely fast and has been compared to Joey Porter. He will be a steal.

Darren Marquez/OT/Southern Illinois-Marquez is a big offensive tackle who helped the Salukis become one of the best teams in Division 1-AA. He is known as a pass protector and would likely play left tackle. Chance of Making 53 man roster: 30%. I like him, but with three offensive linemen drafted, he may end up being the oddman out.

Jordan Senn/LB/Portland State-Senn is a small but quick linebacker who was 10th in tackles in Division 1-AA. He was a star track runner in high school, so he definitely has a good burst of speed. He played safety during his sophomore year. Chance of Making 53 man roster: 25% chance. It's too bad linebacker isn't a need. Senn could help a team out. Other Cover 2 teams should try to sign him if injuries occur.

Jamie Silva/S/Boston College-As Mike Hart was the sexy pick during the draft, Silva was the sexy signing. Silva was the leader of the Boston College defense, and he was highly touted going into the draft. He had 8 interceptions last year, and he had some success returning punts. Out of all of the undrafted free agents, he is the most likely to make the team. Chance of Making 53 man roster: 75%. Bob Sanders needs a backup.

Chad Simpson/RB/Morgan State-Simpson is the 4th leading runner in Morgan State history, but he only played 2 years there. His freshman and sophomore years were spent as a kick returner at South Florida. He ended up being a letterman in track at Morgan State as well. Chance of Making 53 man roster: 22.5%. He could be the returner the Colts are looking for.

Adam Tafralis/QB/San Jose State-Tafralis is a somewhat fast quarterback with a 40 time under 4.7, but he threw a lot of interceptions (11) last year playing against weaker competition. Chance of Making 53 man roster: .5%. I highly doubt he will beat out Jim Sorgi.

With the adding of the UDFAs, here is my projected roster for the Colts.

53 man roster
QB
Peyton Manning
Jim Sorgi

RB
Joseph Addai
Mike Hart
Kenton Keith

WR
Marvin Harrison
Reggie Wayne
Anthony Gonzalez
Roy Hall
Pierre Garcon

TE
Dallas Clark
Tom Santi
Jacob Tamme

LT
Tony Ugoh
Michael Toudouze

LG
Ryan Lilja
Jamey Richards

C
Jeff Saturday
Steve Justice

RG
Mike Pollack
Dylan Gandy

RT
Ryan Diem
Charlie Johnson

DE
Dwight Freeney
Robert Mathis
Josh Thomas
Marcus Howard
Curtis Johnson

DT
Ed Johnson
Raheem Brock
Quinn Pitcock
Darrell Reid
Keyunta Dawson
Colin Ferrell

OLB
Tyjuan Hagler
Freddy Keiaho
Clint Session
Ramon Guzman

MLB
Gary Brackett
Phillip Wheeler

FS
Antoine Bethea
Matt Giordano
Brandon Condren

SS
Bob Sanders
Jamie Silva

CB
Marlin Jackson
Kelvin Hayden
Tim Jennings
Michael Coe
Dante Hughes

K
Adam Vinatieri

P
Hunter Smith

LS
Justin Snow

Practice Squad
QB Josh Betts
WR Sam Giguere
OT Dan Federkiel
OT Darren Marquez
DT Eric Foster
LB Brandon Archer
CB Brandon Foster
TE Bryan Fletcher

Not Under Contract, But Will Be Signed If Injuries Occur
RB Luke Lawton
CB Melvin Bullitt
WR Devin Aromashodu
RB Clift Dawson
WR Sam Burgess

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Why Dont We Take a chance on somebody with Dwight Freeney Potential I Want Tommy Blake on the roster I know we are takeing a huge risk with his condition but as somebody who has been dignosed with the same condition i think the Indianapolis Colts are the perfect team for him that condition im talking about is Social Anxiety Disorder and Depression I know Tony Dungy Preaches Family and So Do our Beloved Franchise And i think that 2 years down the road we will look like a genius for taking him

GOD Bless
AND GO Colts