This one hurts. It hurts in that they lost their best Defensive Tackle and the fact that Dungy loves to run a ton of subs in on DL and now he's down 1 lineman. Hopefully somewhere they can find a suitable replacement (maybe Pitcock has that ability). I would be one to say no to da Tank but I do think Dungy could tame him a bit and we're getting desperate. So, I am now on the sign Tank bandwagon. The good news is we were the worst against the run last year that is until Sanders returned and won the SB.

The only thing this post is missing is the 'Frank the Tank' sequence from Old School.

Very well done...

Don't forget that very little of what tank johnson has done is illegal in indiana. If folks were to say the same things about Bruce Paine they would consider it a tuesday afternoon. booger out does hurt the sub situation but what I think it hurts most is the linebacking corps. when you are playing linebacker, particularly inside linebacker, you make your read of the movement of the nose tackle. though the Colts don't technically have a nose tackle in their scheme, the read and recognition ability of a sage veteran like Booger is what signals the backer what to do. With Reagor it was the same. Now they have very little presence at the position and while I think Pitcock may prove valuable, he may be all motor and little ability. A good college player that is unable to cut the NFL. We will see. Color me concerned.

On the upside, he is just 29 with 3 or 4 playable years left. He might be able to come back and have 2 really good years. We can't forget that this team will be a contender for the next 5 years or so.

Ok, legit question here. What veteran tackles might not make it out of camp for other teams around the league that the Colts might be able to pick up if they see they don't have a viable option during the pre-season?

Tough to say Jack, at this point in the season most of the veteran players have found teams and are in camp probably for good. (I hear Bitchtits Simon is available. It is certain that the Colts will be unable to find a veteran of Booger's talent and savvy at this juncture. I think their best bet is to find a guy who lost his job to injury last year and may be looking for a comeback opportunity. I think that may be the way for them to get the best bang for their dollar. I think Seth Payne, a dt out of Houston that suffered the same injury last year, got cut and may be looking, but he was aging when the Texans had him and a knee injury comeback may be a far stretch. On a different note, the Colts may look for a trade. Since they don't have a first rounder next year, and will rely on that second rounder to find something it may be out of the question. top of my head...Shaun Cody in Detroit is a young guy who was drafted to play but has dropped behind higher paid players on the depth chart. he is small, quick, and good in pursuit which fits the Colts and he can play some 3 for them. but Booger was bulk, and Cody isn't. Tough to say, Jack, i will think on it.

The more I think about it I think it wouldnt be a terribly bad thing to offer our #2 for cody. Our 2 would be lower than the round 2 pick 5 that the lions gave for cody, but they haven't used him a lot at this point and may not intend to. After reading some comments rick deMulling made on the situation in Detroit I doubt that Cody would dislike the idea. The pick would allow the lions to correct some of the mistakes they have made in past drafts by giving them an extra pick in the upcoming. would like to hear a detroit fan's take on this because I have no yardstick on how valuable the franchise considers Cody, but it would appear rogers and redding are the starters longterm given their contract situations and Cody may lack the speed to move to end.

I believe Boney is the resident Lions/Tigers expert commenter, so hopefully he'll throw in his two cents.

if you wanted to offer a #2 for Shaun Cody (who himself was a #2 the year before last), then I wouldn't hesitate to accept that deal. I think Cody is going to be a good backup, but he's no run stopper like your boy Boog.

Don't you guys realize that once the defensive linemen that are good in Tampa leave they're no good anymore?

sorry to add on here but Cody is one of those tweener type of guys. He probably will see a lot of time this season when Shaun Rogers goes down with his obligatory mid-season ankle or mcl sprain.

It's a shame that cody hasn't played more to be honest... I was half expecting him to turn out decent. I think he could be good as an end opposite a solid pass rusher like a Grant Wistrom/Leonard Little only without the DUIs and the man slaughter charges... or the golden blond hair.

I would suggest that the Colts do not trade their 2nd round pick. Then they would be without a pick in the first two rounds of next years draft and for what..Shaun Cody?

Rashad Moore, Jason Fisk, Lional Dalton, Marcellus Wiley, Courtney Brown, Bobby McCray, and Kemp Rasmussen could all be mixed in on the front line. The last four are ends, but if two or three are signed at one year deals for the league minimum (which is more than they are getting now), then Indy could keep a solid front four going throughout the entire season.

Boney - Cody is a tweener but that isnt a negative in Indy where the scheme is designed to have pursuit at the tackle position. booger wasn't a fantastic run stuffer but a balanced player who knew the system. Tampa players have been bad after leaving florida but i can't say that Booger was one of them. He was excellent last season and did almost the exact same thing he did in Tampa, he defeated one on one blocking to move the pocket upfield while another player drew a double team. in tampa it was sapp but here it was freeney.

GM - excellent comment. I don't think Dalton could stay healthy enough to make it out of camp but if marcellus wiley could be had it would be a nice addition. Wiley was at one time a premiere end in the league when he was at Sand Diego but he ate his way out of the position. maybe he could eat his way INTO INDY. I have to say i don't worry about the Colts draft after this last one. Polian has had a great deal of luck (maybe it was skill, stats say skill) at selecting contributers late in the draft and I wonder about what they do. I thought they were taking a linebacker this year but look what happened. I thought they would take a defensive tackle in the second and look what happened. I wonder what they can find in the late second round that will make an impact for them as much as Cody might. I fully expect the GM to link to his next post which better be on this very topic. An excellent evaluator of college prospects I fully expect him to post on this TONIGHT!

haha...Bruce P...You know my shock was equal to yours in the first few rounds of the draft...yelling at the TV...pre-mature celebration of drafting The Puz and Marcus Thomas...oh, how it went down hill oh so quickly!

Oh, and I am waiting for my site to get switched over before I put out anymore articles. That way something doesn't get messed up/lost/etc. I have about 7 posts (including the homework you gave me) to throw down.

Ok Bruce, my homework is done

check out www.arinitout.com and let me know what you think!