Colts discuss training-camp plans but reveal little about draft

Published: Apr 24, 2009 at 11:33 AM

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indianapolis Colts now know where they're headed this summer -- back to Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.

During a news conference Friday, Colts president Bill Polian announced that the team will hold its training camp at the school in Terre Haute, Ind., for the 11th straight year and also will have an open minicamp practice at Franklin College in June.

But Polian refused to drop hints about the more pressing issue -- what player the Colts will take with the 27th overall pick in the draft Saturday.

Polian said the Colts are looking at about six players in the first round, and he believes at least one of them will be there when the draft reaches the 27th pick.

"You can never have enough quality depth," Polian said. "You look for people who can come in and contribute and win. That's what the draft process is all about."

While Polian didn't reveal much about the Colts' draft plans, the training-camp site was another issue.

In March, Anderson, Ind., city officials publicly said the Colts would announce that they were moving back to the city that hosted the team's training camps from 1984 to 1998. However, the Colts contended that those officials were speaking prematurely.

Apparently they were, though Polian indicated the team would continue to review other sites each year.

"If it's economically feasible and the schedule that the league dictates work out, we'd like to go there (Rose-Hulman)," Polian said. "There's lots of talk about the schedule changing, we have an 80-man roster now and all of those things impact training camp, and cost certainly impacts training camp. So that is going to change over time."

Polian also said the Colts will hold a full-squad minicamp practice June 6 at Franklin College, a Division III school that is about 20 miles south of Indianapolis. Tickets will cost $10, and all of the money, Polian said, will go to the school to help defray costs.

It's the second time since 2004 that the Colts have held an offseason workout on a college campus. In April 2004, the Colts went to Ball State's campus in Muncie for a practice that drew a huge crowd.

"We did this at Ball State, and it was a rousing success," Polian said. "We think it will be great for our team and great for our fans. Outreach is an important thing for us, it's always an important thing but it's even more important at this time of year and in this kind of economy."

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