Pro Football Weekly and Riddell present ...
2002 NFL draft
Colts corral Freeney
Syracuse DE should finally give Indy a threatening pass rush
By Andy Hanacek, Associate editor
April 20, 2002
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| If new Colts head coach Tony Dungy was happy about his team’s
defensive personnel at the Scouting Combine in early March, he’s got to be thrilled
by now. After adding ex-Bears CB Walt Harris and ex-Titans LB Greg Favors via free
agency, the Colts made a mild reach and took DE Dwight Freeney out of Syracuse with the 11th
pick overall. It was thought that Freeney would last until the last half of the first
round, but the Colts clearly needed to get a better pass rusher at defensive end, and
Freeney has put up the production in college to warrant a shot at this point in the draft.
At full health, the Colts’ offense can score points by the boatload. But in the
past few seasons, the defense has given up points by the boatload. Many people have
believed that the Colts are simply an average defense away from a Super Bowl championship.
Freeney is the first step in this draft for the Colts to improve the defense enough to
be average, if not better than average. Next on the Colts’ docket in this draft must
be a cornerback or defensive tackle. The Colts must ignore the temptations of selecting
any offensive players in the early rounds. As intriguing as WR Reggie Wayne was to the
Colts in the first round of the 2001 draft, they should have focused on defense, and they
can’t slip into that trap this year.
Freeney is very speedy (4.38 in the 40) and will bring a pass-rush ability to the Colts
that Indianapolis fans haven’t seen since the waning days of Cornelius Bennett’s
career. In fact, with Freeney in the lineup, giving the Colts a much better pass rush, the
cornerbacks should have an easier time in coverage.
The Colts need to continue to focus on bolstering the defense, getting young playmakers
to surround some of the youngsters already in the lineup. Linebacker seems to be a solid
position at the moment, with youngsters Marcus Washington and Rob Morris and veteran Mike
Peterson holding down the starting jobs. Washington provided the most playmaking ability
of the up-and-comers on defense last year. Peterson is probably the team’s best
overall defender.
But the Colts need better play or better players at defensive tackle, which will help
keep blockers off MLB Morris and help his development. They also need to get better play
from the two youngsters in the secondary, S Idrees Bashir and CB David Macklin, or they
need to draft a few players to push or replace these guys. |
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