*COLTS PRESIDENT BILL POLIAN AND HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY – ON COLTS DRAFT 2006 *
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PRESIDENT BILL POLIAN (General Comments) Sunday, April 30, 2006
"In the fifth round we picked Michael Toudouze, offensive tackle, TCU. He's very athletic. He's a very long guy with long arms and quick feet. He's an excellent pass protector. He was coached by Coach Eddie Williamson who was on Jim Caldwell's staff and also coached Jeff Saturday at North Carolina. We talked to him and he spoke very favorably of the young man. He had many of the same qualities and personal characteristics as Jeff. His height is a real benefit for us at tackle. The next player in the sixth round was Charlie Johnson. He is also an offensive tackle. He is 6-4 305 from Okalahoma State. He is a man that is quite light on his feet, good technician and a good solid run blocker. I think we'll start Toudouze out at left tackle and Johnson at right tackle. All of our guys have to be interchangeable. We felt this was a position we haven't addressed in the draft here recently and one that we felt like we needed to. The last pick was Antoine Bethea from Howard University. He played free safety in a three-deep alignment. He's a very, very aggressive young guy and a real good hitter. He was a 4.4 forty right on the button. He fits the mold as far as what we needed in terms of speed at that position. He's an upgrade in speed and is quite comparable to Bob (Sanders). He has the same kind of knock-you-down type of attitude. He was a three-year starter. All the players had the right physical characteristics, and were producers at the college level and had the right temperament. They didn't have house hold names, but they had the right physical qualities and we felt they could come here, make the team and make us better. We are happy. The board is just about empty and we were pretty accurate in terms of where the players would go. We are happy to get these guys and we will get on to the free agents and hopefully as we have in the past, have some second day guys and some free agents to come in here and make the team."
PRESIDENT BILL POLIAN (on his philosophy on drafting linemen on the second day) Sunday, April 30, 2006
"We feel that on the second day, because we use a specific set of criteria in terms of trying to evaluate them that we can find players on the second day that can come in and make our team and be contributors. That's been the case and I'm sure will continue to be the case. We feel good about these two guys and we think they have every opportunity to come in and make the team."
PRESIDENT BILL POLIAN (on draft picks making 53-man roster) Sunday, April 30, 2006
"We always build a team with the idea that the 53 that come out of training camp have to play. They have to play at some point during the season. I think it's entirely feasible that every man that makes the
