The SB Nation two-round NFL mock draft continues along with each lead NFL team blogger making the pick for their team. We’re into the second round and the Indianapolis Colts are back up with the No. 34 pick.
2012 SB Nation NFL Mock Draft: Round 2, Pick 34
With the 34th pick in the 2012 SB Nation NFL Writers Mock Draft, the Indianapolis Colts select Stanford tight end Coby Fleener.
Brad Wells of Stampede Blue, SB Nation Indiana, SBNation.com videos and even your friendly draft site checks in with and explanation after the jump and I respond. For more on the Colts, head over to StampedeBlue.com.
Brad Wells explains: HEY! It’s a Colts draft party, and only prospects from Stanford are invited! At pick No. 34, the impulse for the Colts is to take a nose tackle, ANY nose tackle, because their new look 3-4 defense simply will not work without one. It is completely pointless to run 3-4 without a quality nose tackle, and while I had my sights on Brandon Thompson of Clemson, at the end of the day it comes down to value. A kid like Thompson is a nice player. He’ll give you 100%. He’ll play tough. He’ll be a good player in the middle of your defense. However, Fleener has the potential to be a dominant offensive player in the NFL. As the Patriots showed last year, utilizing the tight end in the modern NFL (where safeties can no longer use their helmets to spear receivers over the middle) can carve up just about anyone. The 6’6, 245 lbs Fleener ran a 4.45 second 40 at his Pro Day. A windy, outdoor Pro Day! His hands are football magnets. He can jump. He fights for yardage and drags defenders for first downs. Basically, Fleener has a chance to be a Pro Bowler while most NT prospects here are just solid. Thus, the move here is Fleener with, possibly, grabbing someone like Baylor’s Nicolas Jean-Bapiste in Round Three.
Dan Kadar responds: After stripping most of the talent off the offense in free agency, anything the Colts do would seem like an upgrade. Peyton Manning was more than five years into his NFL career before the Colts drafted a tight end in Dallas Clark. He quickly became one of Manning's favorite targets. By giving Andrew Luck a tight end as a rookie, it would give him a good security fall back in the Colts' new offense. Add to it that he and Fleener already have excellent timing with one another and fantasy owners at least would be drooling. Fleener is considered by most to be a first-round pick, so to get him at this point could be considered a mild steal.
Mocking the Draft's Top 5 Remaining Prospects
| OVR | Name | Pos. | College | Report |
| 22 | Zach Brown | OLB | North Carolina | prospect notes |
| 23 | Brandon Thompson | DT | Clemson | scouting report |
| 24 | Andre Branch | DE | Clemson | scouting report |
| 25 | David Wilson | RB | Virginia Tech | scouting report |
| 29 | Lamar Miller | RB | Miami | scouting report |
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