No. 59

Pick by Stampede Blue Matt Forte Running Back Tulane

With the 58th overall selection in the 2008 SB Nation NFL Mock Draft, the Indianapolis Colts have selected Tulane running back Matt Forte. BigBlueShoe and shake n bake, of Stampede Blue, have been waiting patiently to make the Colts' first (and only) pick of this mock draft, and join us now to explain their selection of Forte:

Um, what? What did you say? It’s the Colts turn to draft? No! Not possible. I mean, AOL Fanhouse is still on pick #32 in their mock draft. How could we possibly be almost done with the second round that fast?

WE ARE! Really? Wow.

Uh, well… uh, I guess you kinda caught me with my pants down here. I mean, like most bloggers, all I’m doing is sitting here in my mom’s basement in my underwear, wasting my life away in a never ending cycle of Halo 3, Dominos pizza, and sports blogging. So, since I’m such a loser and am not really all that prepared, I’ll turn this over to one of Stampede Blue’s longtime contributors, and author of his own blog titled Shake n Baken, our very own Shake n Bake. Shake is best to draft for the Colts here with the #59 pick. While he’s doing that, I’ll look for my pants. Take it away, Shake n Bake:

Joseph Addai performs best in a RB tandem, he split time his whole college career and the Colts won the Super Bowl while pairing him with Dom Rhodes. Unfortunately Kenton Keith doesn't have the hands to play for the Colts as shown by the multiple dump-off that he not only couldn't catch, but several times tipped into the air, causing interceptions. A Colts RB needs to block well, catch the ball out of the backfield, not fumble and be a good runner, in that order. Three out of four isn't good enough. Especially when it's job #2 that is their weakness.

Matt Forte can do all four. He's a great blocker, so much so he can lead block for Addai in a 2 RB set in addition to his outstanding pass blocking. He wasn't a huge receiving threat, but showed good hands and route running. He never had fumble problems. As a runner his pounding style will contrast the smaller Addai. Forte is a high character guy and a tremendously hard worker. Forte's weakness is a lack of big play explosiveness, a weakness that the Colts don't mind in a RB and shared by Addai and a post knee injury Edge James. Forte gives the Colts the flexibility they lose with Utecht's departure. Without another RB, TE or WR the Colts are locked into a Marvin, Wayne, Clark, Gonzalez and Addai lineup with no depth behind them.

Defense is less of a need than ever with the Colts returning every starter from the #1 ranked scoring D. Another pass rusher to spell Freeney and Mathis or a penetrating DT to replace the solid, but unspectacular Ed Johnson would be great, but there's no value at those positions on the board at #59. The DE need can be addressed with underrated prospects in the late rounds like Howard's Rudolph Hardie.

Forte is a great value at a position of some need. (Especially since the Colts' current backup RB thinks the appropriate response to a police officer asking him to leave a nightclub parking lot is "When I'm ready, I'm a Colts player. I'm a Colts player. When I'm ready").

Cool. Now that I have my pants on, I feel a little more respectable. I agree with Shake on picking Matt Forte out of Tulane. Like Shake, I think the East Carolina’s Chris Johnson would have been a better fit, providing the Colts with a very good change-of-pace back and a special teams returner. CJ might indeed be there at #59, but if he isn’t Matt Forte is just fine, thank you. Players like Xavier Adibi are intriguing, but the Colts have not drafted a LBer high than Round 3 in a long time. WR Early Doucet is a "no" because he runs bad routes and TE Fred Davis doesn't fit because he is slow. With Forte, the Colts get speed, power, strength, blocking, receiving, and character. He’s perfect for the Colts. Kenton Keith better check his mailbox for his pink slip.

Matt Miller, host of this site as well as owner of New Era Scouting, provides his analysis below:

An interesting, and surprising, pick from Indianapolis. The Kenton Keith arrest record is dangerously exciting, and the team has shown before their belief in a two-back set. The Colts have so few needs that it is hard to argue with this pick. Forte' is a good player, a productive running back with size and speed. He's a versatile player and a great locker room guy. I would have went for Jamaal Charles here, or Ray Rice, but the pick of a high character senior running back is hard to discredit.

Grade: B :: Matt Forte Scouting Report - New Era Scouting :: Matt Miller's Top Five Prospects Remaining: 1. LB Shawn Crable, 2. RB Jamaal Charles, 3. TE Fred Davis, 4. QB Chad Henne, 5. TE Martin Rucker

We've only got four more picks to go in the 2008 SB Nation NFL Mock Draft! The Green Bay Packers, represented by Acme Packing Company, are on the clock for the third time.