The Indianapolis Colts picked at the bottom of the first round in 2006, and were clearly looking for the replacement for Edgerrin James, who left for the Arizona Cardinals that year. James was a fan favorite for great reason and would have been even better if he didn’t shred his ACL in 2001 (He was great after that, but just never the same as he was pre-injury).
So, in the 2006 NFL Draft, the Colts selected LSU running back Joseph Addai with the 30th “we lost in the playoffs after being the No. 1 seed again, didn’t we?” pick. Addai was an excellent player with a very nice career, but when Pro Football Focus went back and re-drafted the first round that year based on their data, the Colts took someone else.
It’s a little confusing since they have the Colts drafting Memphis running back De’Angelo Williams, who the Carolina Panthers took with the No. 27 pick, but it’s fine because in the re-draft PFF has the Panthers taking safety Roman Harper.
“The Colts drafted Joseph Addai here originally, but Williams replaces him here. The Memphis product earned a 75.7 PFF overall grade through his first five seasons of play, with one Pro Bowl, one second-team All-Pro nod and a 1,500-yard and 18-touchdown season in 2008,” write Max Chadwick, Dalton Wasserman and Trevor Sikkema of PFF.
Williams had a nice career
De’Angelo Williams – who is apparently now a professional wrestler believe it or not – had a very nice career. In 11 seasons, he twice went over 1,000 yards and once eclipsed 1,500 yards while rushing for 8,096 yards and 61 touchdowns. He was second-team All-Pro in 2008 while leading the NFL with a whopping 18 touchdowns.
Addai had a nice six-year career in which he rushed for 4,453 yards and 39 touchdowns, but tailed off after a strong first two years. In 2006 and 2007, Addai ran for 1,081 yards and 1,072 yards respectively, but never hit the four-digit market again.
It doesn’t take a deep-dive into the weeds of data to see that Williams was the better back, even if Addai was no bust by any stretch of the imagination.
More on the Panthers not taking Williams again
Williams had some big years for the Panthers, lasting in Carolina for nine seasons. He formed a dynamite backfield with fellow first-round pick Jonathan Stewart, who was taken with the No. 13-overall pick in the 2008 NFL Draft. This was back when teams thought they could build around a dynamite running game.
PFF liked the pick and even admitted they may do it again, but for the sake of doing something differently, they had the Panthers take Harper.
“The Panthers made a solid original selection in running back DeAngelo Williams, who played 11 years in the league as a key part of their backfield. This could’ve been Williams again, but for the fun of switching it up, Harper joins Carolina even sooner in his career timeline,” PFF continues.
“The Panthers’ two starting safeties in 2006, Mike Minter and Shaun Williams, were both no longer the starters a year later. Harper made two Pro Bowls in his career and earned a 72.4 PFF overall grade in his first five seasons in New Orleans.”
The Addai pick was certainly not a mistake, but it’s the NFL offseason so these exercises can be entertaining.
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Re-Drafting the 2006 NFL Draft for the Colts