Mr. Irrelevant 2012: Colts Were Foolish to Pick QB to End Draft

Mr. Irrelevant is the name given to the last pick of each year's NFL draft.

This year, that honor was bestowed upon quarterback Chandler Harnish, quarterback out of Northern Illinois.

While Harnish may have been a good idea for another team at pick No. 253, there were other players out there that would have been more beneficial to the Indianapolis Colts. 

Harnish will most likely compete for the job as the backup to No. 1 overall pick Andrew Luck. The last pick of the draft hardly ever pans out into a quality player, but wouldn't it be a better idea to take a chance on a prospect that could amount to more than a backup quarterback?

One guy the Colts could have taken is Marquis Maze, who was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Maze could have been picked up as a replacement to Pierre Garcon, who left town for the Washington Redskins this offseason.

Maze is small, at just 5'8", 186 pounds, which is definitely a concern for an NFL wide receiver. Maze would have been a high-reward pick for the Colts, and even though the chances of him turning into an impact player in the NFL are slim, stranger things have happened in the league.

Reggie Wayne is long in the tooth, and won't be around for Luck to throw to much longer. While they did pick up two other receivers in the draft, they are much lesser known. The Colts' Round 3 selection, T.Y. Hilton out of Florida International, is just two inches taller than Maze.

Another guy the Colts could have gone with is Chris Polk out of Washington. He's a better back than Vick Ballard by the way. While there were concerns about Polk's health, he seemed to be doing fine playing with the supposed injuries. 

Polk ran for over 4,000 yards in just three years as a starter for the Huskies. There were talks of shoulder problems as well as hip problems, but the injuries obviously weren't affecting him too much, as it's pretty hard to run for 4,000 yards in three years with a bum shoulder and hip.

Here's another guy the Colts could have scooped up: Vontaze Burfict. 

Yeah, he's an absolute head case, and it's no surprise the Cincinnati Bengals took him on, as they have a history of troubled players on their team, but if Burfict can get his head on straight, he'll be a force in the NFL.

The Colts took just two defensive players in the entire draft, curious for a team who let up almost 6,000 yards of total offense in 2011.

Hopefully for the Colts, Mr. Irrelevant will stay irrelevant, and passing up on some quality players won't come back to bite them.