The Indianapolis Colts selected WR T.Y. Hilton out of Florida International with the 92nd overall pick (3rd round) of the 2012 NFL Draft.  Hilton is a small guy at 5’9″, 178 pounds but he’s a blazer running a 4.4 40.  He has good moves and he’s pretty elusive after he gets his hands on the football.  He’s not much of  a blocker and he gets banged up at times due to his lack of size.  Hilton played in 13 games (12 starts) at Florida International last year and he caught 72 passes for 1,038 yards (14.4 avg) with 7  TD grabs.  He played in 50 games (27 starts) in his four years at Florida International and he caught 229 passes for 3,531 yards (15.4 avg) with 24 TD grabs.  Hilton could also help the Colts on special teams as he is a pretty solid kickoff and punt returner.  He returned 105 kickoffs for 2,855 yards (27.2 avg) with 4 TD returns in college.  He also returned 49 punts for 614 yards (12.5 avg) with 2 TD returns in his college career.  This was an outstanding pick for the Colts.

The Indianapolis Colts selected TE Dwyane Allen out of Clemson with the 64th overall pick (3rd round) of the 2012 NFL Draft.  Allen is 6’4″, 255 pounds and he runs a 4.7 40.  Allen is an excellent receiver who is hard to bring down.  He make the tough catch look rather easy at times.  The Colts will need him to work on his run blocking, as he lacks effort sometimes in that area of his game.  Allen played in 14 games (all starts) at Clemson last year and he caught 50 passes for 598 yards (12.0 avg) with 8 TD grabs.  He played in 41 games (33 starts) in his three years at Clemson and he caught 93 passes for 1,079 yards (11.6 avg) with 12 TD grabs.  This was an excellent pick for the Colts as Allen and Coby Fleener are going to give opposing LBs and safeties fits in the coming future…..starting in 2012.

The Colts picked TE Coby Fleener out of Stanford with the 34th round pick (2nd round) of the 2012 NFL Draft.  Fleener was one of Andrew Luck’s best friends at Stanford, so this could work out really nice for the Colts.  Fleener is 6’6″, 250 pounds and he runs a 4.65 40.  He has good hands and he can make some moves to help him get down field.  He’s not much of a run blocker though.  Fleener played in 13 games (5 starts) for Stanford last year and he caught 34 passes for 667 yards (19.6 avg) with 10 TD grabs.  He played in 51 games (15 starts) in his four years in college and he caught 96 passes for 1,543 yards (16.1 avg) with 18 TD grabs.  Fleener is likely going to be one of Andrew Luck’s favorite receivers in 2012 and beyond.  This was a solid pick for the Colts.

The Colts have picked QB Andrew Luck to lead them into a new direction after Peyton Manning was released.  He will be the starting QB from Day #1.  He is a solid 6’3″, 235 pound QB and he runs a 4.75 40, so he’s a good athlete.  Luck played in 13 games (all starts) for Stanford last year and he completed 288 of 404 passes (71.3%) for 3,517 yards with 37 TD passes and only 10 interceptions.  He played in 38 games (all starts) in his three years at Stanford and he completed 713 of 1,064 passes (67%) for 9,430 yards with 82 TD passes and 22 INTs.  Andrew Luck is a smart guy with a big arm, so I expect him to have both some success and growing pains in 2012 for the Colts.  But, you have to take your lumps (even Peyton Manning and Troy Aikman did) and learn from the hard lessons the NFL gives you early on.  This was an excellent pick for the Colts as Andrew Luck will be a QB to build around.

Jim Harbaugh is known for being the San Francisco 49ers head coach.  But, in 1995, he was known as Captain Comeback in Indianapolis when he went to his only Pro Bowl.  Harbaugh played in 15 games (12 starts) for the Colts in 1995 and he completed 200 of 314 passes (63.7%) for 2,575 yards with 17 TD passes and 5 INTs (100.7 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 52 times for 235 yards (4.5 ypc) with 2 TD carries in 1995.  Harbaugh went to to lead the Colts to two playoff wins that year to set up a showdown with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship Game at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.  The Colts were a huge underdog, and they came a Hail Mary short of beating the Steelers as they lost 20-16.  Harbaugh completed 21 of 33 passes for 267 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs (98.9 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 6 times for 29 yards (4.8 ypc) in the AFC Championship Game.  Harbaugh played in 53 games (46 starts) in his four years with the Colts and he completed 746 of 1,230 (60.7%) with 8,705 yards with 49 TD passes and 26 INTs (86.6 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 175 times for 856 yards (4.9 ypc) with 3 TD runs with the Colts.  Harbaugh was 20-26 (43.5%) as the Colts’ starting QB.  Harbaugh is #6 in Colts’ history in passing yards (8,705) and he’s also #4 in TD passes (49).

The Colts can really use help almost everywhere on the field except DE.  With that in mind, I look for the Colts to take the best available player whenever their pick comes up in the 2012 NFL Draft.  Here is who I saw the Colts drafting in my mock 2012 NFL Draft found on bloglockers.com:

1. (1) Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford

2. (34) Coby Fleener, TE, Stanford

3. (64) Trumaine Johnson, CB, Montana

4. (97) Rishard Matthews, WR, Nevada

5. (136) Ryan Miller, OG, Colorado

5. (170) Terrance Ganaway, RB, Baylor

6. (206) Marcel Jones, OT, Nebraska

7. (208) Cyhl Quarles, SS, Wake Forest

7. (214) Mike Daniels, DT, Iowa

7. (253) Cody Johnson, FB, Texas

The Colts have waived 25-year old WR Blair White.  White played in 7 games for the Colts last year and he returned 7 punts for 22 yards (3.1 avg) but he didn’t catch any passes.  White played in 20 games in his two years with the Colts and he caught 36 passes for 355 yards (9.9 avg) with 5 TD grabs.  He also returned 17 punts for 102 yards (6.0 avg) with the Colts.  This is not much of a loss and White showed nothing last year for the Colts.

The new motto for Colts’ new head coach Chuck Pagano must be, “Out with the Old and in with the New”, as he has given a lot of veterans their walking papers.  That is not a bad thing though if you watched the Colts play last year.  He wants to make the Colts a more physical team on both sides of the football in 2012.  Here is a look at what he has done so far:

Offensively:  The Colts want to make sure that rookie QB Andrew Luck (or Robert Griffin III) is well protected in 2012.  They have signed center Samson Satele, G/T Mike McGlynn and they have dealt for OT Winston Justice (he played with the Eagles last year).  I like those moves, as those are tough guys.  The Colts were also smart to re-sign WR Reggie Wayne and to sign WR Donnie Avery, to give the new QB a couple of nice players to throw the ball to.  The Colts also dealt for QB Drew Stanton to backup whichever rookie they pick with the #1 overall pick of the 2012 NFL Draft.

Defensively:  The first order of business for the Colts on defense was re-signing DE Robert Mathis.  They also have brought in three ex-Ravens that know coach Pagano’s defensive system.  Those guys are DE/DT Corey Redding, DT Brandon McKinney and safety Tom Zbikowski.  The Colts have also re-signed safety Mike Newton.

GRADE FOR THE OFF-SEASON SO FAR:  B

The Colts have signed 28-year old DT Brandon McKinney to a 2-year deal.  McKinney played in 12 games for the Ravens last year and he had 14 tackles and 1 forced fumble.  He has now played in 61 games in his first six years in the NFL and he has 60 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery and 2 passes defensed.  This was a good move for the Colts as McKinney knows the defensive system that new head coach Chuck Pagano is likely to install, due to their time together with the Ravens.