By Tom James
Tribune-Star Correspondent
INDIANAPOLIS
April 26, 2008 11:46 pm
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The Indianapolis Colts, as per usual, did the unexpected with their initial selection of the NFL Draft Saturday evening. Indianapolis, with the 59th overall pick (the 28th of the second round), opted to take former Arizona State center Mike Pollak rather than drafting a tight end or defensive end in the early going.
A 6-foot-3, 293-pound native of Scottsdale, Ariz., Pollak is expected to play offensive guard for the Colts, who lost starting right offensive guard Jake Scott to the Tennessee Titans via free agency in March. Although he has been the Sun Devils’ starting center for the past two seasons, earning first-team All-PAC 10 mention as a senior, moving to guard isn’t expected to be a major challenge.
“I figured I was going to be drafted more as a center, thinking that the Colts already have such a great one in Jeff Saturday. But they want to bring me in as more of a guard and I’m totally flexible with that,” Pollak said in a conference call Saturday night.
While veterans Dylan Gandy and Charlie Johnson are expected to get first dibs at replacing Scott in the starting lineup for Indianapolis, the rookie will get a chance to show what he can do fairly early. He saw work at offensive guard redshirt freshman and sophomore before sliding over to play center. That experience should help him when he begins practicing with the Colts.
“That’s what [Indianapolis head] coach [Tony] Dungy said, that they’re going to give me an opportunity for a [starting] spot. And that’s what I’m going to come in looking to do. Come in and compete,” he said.
Both Dungy and team president Bill Polian were happy with the addition of Pollak, who was the top player remaining on the Colts’ draft board when it came time to make a pick.
“He is a big, strong, powerful, wide-based, but still athletic player. He was described to me, by (][Arizona State head coach] Dennis Erickson, as their best football player. A leader. Smart guy. Good athlete. He was a baseball pitcher in his younger days. A guy that we feel has a chance to come in and make an immediate contribution for us,” Polian said.
“It [was] a long day, but we’re really happy that we got the player that we wanted. We ended up with, I think, three players on the [draft] board that we could have taken. But Mike was our first choice and we’re happy we got him.”
Dungy agreed, noting that Indianapolis had taken offensive linemen early in the last two drafts. The team’s second-round pick a year ago, offensive tackle Tony Ugoh, quickly worked himself into a starting role as a rookie in 2007.
“Mike played center at Arizona State, but the type of offense they ran you saw him do a lot of the things that we ask our guards to do,” the Colts coach said. “He’s a lot like Jeff Saturday, a lot like Ryan Lilja, the guys that we’ve had success with here. So we think we’re going to be able to slide him over to guard with no problem at all. And he’s a guy that could be a backup center as well, so really fills a couple of needs for us.
“He’s a good player. We talked through a lot of different scenarios as the day went on, even [Friday] night. Guys that could be possibly be there. And he was the guy that we hoped that was there because he could help us. It was pretty exciting for us. In talking to Mike, he’s fired up about getting here and starting to work with our guys. He’s watched us play a little bit and understands what we do. He’s excited to be here.”
n Need met talent — The decision to select Pollak so early probably came as quite a surprise to most people. But it was business as usual for the Colts’ player personnel staff.
“We felt like the need line intersected with the talent line. We lost Jake in free agency, so this gives us a player who can step in and if not start certainly be a quality backup for us. Just like we did with Tony last year, we’ll give him every opportunity to get his feet wet in training camp,” Polian explained.
“He’s a player, as Tony said, right out of the mold of all the other players that we’ve had success with on the offensive line. It’s high for us [to draft] an offensive lineman. We haven’t taken [an offensive guard] this high since (former Arkansas lineman] Brandon Burlsworth (in 1999). But, in this draft, he merited that choice.”
Pollak had moved up high on the Colts’ draft wish list after a strong performance against UCLA last fall. Polian and director of player personnel Tom Telesco were in attendance at the game.
“We talked with Dennis Erickson before the game, asked him about all the prospects on his squad. And we have a high regard for Dennis, obviously. He’s coached in (the NFL) and certainly knows football players. And he volunteered. He said, ‘This is my top guy.’ And talked about his intangible qualities. And then when we saw him play in the ball game, we both came away and said, ‘Boy, that may be our guy.’”
• Today’s picks — Indianapolis has eight remaining draft picks today. They will come in the 3rd round, 93rd overall; 4th round, 127th overall; 5th round, 161st overall; 6th round, 196th overall, 201st overall (compensatory pick), 202nd overall (compensatory pick), 205th overall (compensatory pick); 7th round, 236th pick overall. Teams will have five minutes between picks over the final five rounds.
• Indiana players selected — Five Indiana college players were taken on the first day of the draft, with Purdue tight end Dustin Keller going to the New York Jets in the first round (30th overall pick). Notre Dame tight end John Carlson went to Seattle in the second round (38th overall) while Indiana cornerback Tracy Porter and wide receiver James Hardy were selected on consecutive picks in the second round (Porter to New Orleans at No. 40 and Hardy to Buffalo at No. 41).
Notre Dame defensive tackle Trevor Laws, meanwhile, went to Philadelphia with the 47th pick of the second round.
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