Pro Football Focus hopped in the time machine and went back to the 2006 NFL draft and redrafted the entire first round. So, who did the Indianapolis Colts come away with?

The trio of Dalton Wasserman, Trevor Sikkema, and Max Chadwick used the benefit of hindsight and PFF’s grading system to evaluate the careers of the 2006 draft class and used that as their barometer in this redraft.

Advertisement

Originally with the 30th overall pick, the Colts drafted LSU running back Joseph Addai. Over his six-year career, all of which was spent with Indianapolis, Addai made one Pro Bowl and was a key contributor on the Colts’ Super Bowl team, which included rushing for over 1,000 yards that season.

However, after eclipsing 1,000 yards in each of his first two years, Addai never reached that mark again and missed time with injuries over his final four years.

So instead of taking Addai, PFF had the Colts still selecting a running back, but taking Memphis’ DeAngelo Williams, who was originally taken at 27th overall by Carolina.

“The Colts drafted Joseph Addai here originally, but Williams replaces him here,” wrote PFF. “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.”

Advertisement

Williams would have an 11-year career, spending most of his time with Carolina and the final two seasons with Pittsburgh. He was a one-time Pro Bowler and led the NFL in rushing touchdowns twice. He had two seasons where he went over 1,100 yards, including a 1,500 season in 2008.

Of note, during the Colts’ Super Bowl season, Williams had 717 rushing yards that year at 5.0 yards per attempt, but he did not technically start any games like Addai did for Indianapolis.

The top five picks in this redraft ended up being Andrew Whitworth to Houston, Jahri Evans to New Orleans, Brandon Marshall to Tennessee, Haloti Ngata to the New York Jets, and Marques Colston to Green Bay.

(This article was updated to provide additional information.)

This article originally appeared on Colts Wire: Indianapolis Colts pick RB DeAngelo Williams in PFF’s 2006 NFL redraft