What does the Hiring of Chuck Pagano Mean for the Colts and the Draft?

Today the Colts announced that they have hired former Ravens defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano as their next head coach. The Colts have been making a lot of news lately with the health of Peyton Manning and because they hold the first pick in the N.F.L. draft. The hiring of Chuck Pagano has very strong implications on the direction the Colts franchise will move coupled with their G.M. hiring, a man who has experience with a team that was running a 34 defense the logical conclusion is that the Colts will favor a 34 defense. And right now their team has very little 34 defensive talent.

Right now they are an undersized fast sideline to sideline Tampa two defense that relys on defensive linemen flowing to the passer and playing the run on the way there, players like Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis have made a living playing that way, but know they could be outcast if the Colts to decide to move to a 34 defense. They have no players who fit the 34 defense well unless you want to move one of their, sub-par defensive tackles outside to play 34 DE, but even then they still don’t have a nose tackle. They don’t have a 34 OLB unless Freeny and Mathis can play that position and their smaller undersized linebackers could be severly miscasted in a 34 defense. Then when you move outside to the cornerbacks, they are a heavy zone coverage team. It is not impossible to play a lot of zone in 34, but the coverages will be significantly altered.

Or will the team keep the same tried and true method of their tampa two system. It’s an interesting proposition one that will greatly effect the approach the Colts take in the 2012 N.F.L. draft. If the Colts decide that they are going to begin the transition to a 34 team their draft will probably look akin to this:

Andrew Luck

Defense

The other thing that is intriguing is the persaonlity of their new head coach who has been described as more Rex Ryan than Tony Dungy. It’s clear that this Colts era is at an end and that the New Look Colts will be rolled out this season for better or worse.

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