2012 NFL Draft: Indianapolis Colts Smart to Draft Coby Fleener and Dwayne Allen

The Indianapolis Colts are in rebuilding mode, that’s no secret. The process has been jump started with the selection of quarterback Andrew Luck.

With the second selection of the second round, the Colts picked Stanford tight end Coby Fleener, Luck’s favorite target in college. Reuniting the two was an extremely smart move and one that most could see coming from a mile away.

Something no one saw coming from a mile away was the Colts spending another draft pick on a tight end. If they did, it wouldn’t be anywhere close to the third round.

Instead, the Colts did just that.

With the first pick of the third round, the Colts elected to draft Clemson tight end Dwayne Allen. It was an unpredictable move, but a genius selection in its own right.

Detractors of the strategy will claim the Colts have a plethora of needs and couldn’t afford to waste two picks on a position like tight end. They would be correct. One of the picks may have been better spent on a defensive player to help rebuild the other side of the ball.

However, one has to look no further than the rival New England Patriots to see how effective two elite pass-catching tight ends can be.

The Patriots had a horrendous defense last season and no real receiving threats in the form of wide receivers. Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez were enough to dominate the entire league en route to the Super Bowl.

The Colts appear to have noticed that strategy. Tight end is a safety net that is invaluable to rookie quarterbacks. Now Luck has two elite prospects that will start from day one and be just that.

Thanks to this strategy the Colts could have a stellar offense in 2012. Adjusting to the NFL is difficult for any rookie quarterback, even Andrew Luck.

It’s easy to hate the selections right now, but in the long run it’s the right approach to building around Luck.

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