34-year old QB Peyton Manning is the Cal Ripken of Pro Football as he has never missed a start in 12 years.  He played in 16 games for the Colts last year and he completed 393 of 571 passes (68.8%) for 4,500 yards with 33 TD passes and 16 INTs (99.9 QB Rating).  Manning also carried the ball 19 times for -13 yards (-0.7 ypc). last year.  He has now played in 192 games in his career with the Colts and he has completed 4,232 of 6,531 passes (64.8%) for 50,128 yards with 366 TD passes and 181 INTs (95.2 QB Rating).  Manning also has carried the ball 328 times for 704 yards (2.1 ypc) with 17 TD runs in his NFL career.  Manning is #4 all time in passing yards (50,128) in the NFL but he will likely pass John Elway this year, health permitting.  He is also #3 all time (366) in TD passes in NFL history.  The Colts are a stunning 131-61 (68.2%) in games started by Peyton Manning.

24-year old Curtis Painter likely has the inside trade for the #2 job despite playing horrible in his first NFL action at the end of last season.  Painter played in 2 games for the Colts last year and he completed 8 of 28 passes (28.6%) for 83 yards with 0 TD passes and 2 INTs (9.8 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 3 times for 4 yards (1.3 ypc) last season.  One more year like that and he might be out of the NFL.

2nd year man Drew Willy and undrafted rookie Tim Hiller out of Western Michigan will likely battle for the #3 job but it’s not impossible that one of them could bump Painter down the depth chart with a good training camp.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE COLTS QBs in 2010:  A+

The Colts have picked CB Ray Fisher with the 246th overall pick (7th round) of the NFL Draft.  Fisher is a tad small at 5′9″, 185 pounds and he has only played 1 year on defense in college.  Fisher had 40 tackles and he forced 1 fumble last season for Indiana.  He had 49 tackles and 1 forced fumble in his career at Indiana.  From 2006-08, Fisher was a WR for the Hoosiers.  He carried the ball 18 times for 98 yards (5.4 ypc) and he also caught 118 passes for 1,070 yards (9.1 avg) with 9 TD grabs in his first three years at Indiana.  I think the Colts took Fisher for his special teams ability.  He returned 34 punts for 165 yards (4.9 avg) and 19 kickoffs for 648 yards (34.1 avg) with 2 TD returns in college.  This was a player worth taking a flier on in the 7th round.

The Colts have picked OLB Kavell Conner with the 240th overall pick (7th round) of the NFL Draft.  Conner has nice size at 6′0″, 247 pounds and he runs a 4.7 40 so he’s a good athlete.  But Conner is not a very physical player and that is why he dropped so far in this draft.  He played in 14 games (12 starts) at Clemson last season and he had 111 tackles, 8 tackles for a loss, he had 2 sacks and he broke up 1 pass.  Conner played in 52 games (27 starts) in his four years in college and he finished up with 313 tackles, 16 tackles for a loss, had 3 sacks, broke up 6 passes and he had 1 interception.  Conner will help out immediately on special teams and he could develop into a starting linebacker down the road if everything turns out well for him.

The Colts have picked DT Ricardo Mathews with the 238th overall pick (7th round) of the NFL Draft.  Mathews is 6′3″, 290 pounds so he might be able to add a few more pounds to his frame.  Not many experts thought he would get picked so Mathews might have a hard time making the team.  Mathews had 41 tackles and 3 sacks last season for the Cincinnati Bearcats.  In his four years in college, Mathews had 66 tackles and 5 sacks.  This was quite a reach for the Colts in even the 7th round.

The Colts have picked TE Brody Eldridge with the 162nd overall pick (5th round) of the NFL Draft.  Eldridge is a big guy at 6′5″, 260 pounds and he runs a 4.85 40.  His game is blocking as he was a former interior lineman.  He is a mauler in the running game and he’s good enough to stay in and deal with blocking DEs.  Eldridge played in 9 games (all starts) at Oklahoma last season in which he caught 2 passes for 19 yards (9.5 avg).  He played in 49 games (26 starts) in his four years in college and he caught 13 passes for 98 yards (7.5 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  Eldridge will likely play a lot on special teams and on running downs for the Colts this season.