2011 NFL Draft: Indianapolis Colts Select Boston College OT Anthony Castonzo With First Round Pick

The Indianapolis Colts held a press conference Thursday night after selecting Boston College OT Anthony Castonzo with the 22nd overall pick in the NFL Draft. Vice Chairman Bill Polian shared how excited they were that Castonzo was there for the Colts to draft:

"We didn't think he'd be there. He was the highest- rated offensive tackle on our board and we were very happy that he was available to us. He's a very tall guy, 6-feet-7, 305, 310 pounds, long arms, quick feet, outstanding student, four-year starter, pretty much everything we look for in a football player so we're very happy to have him. I'm sure he can step in and do a good job pretty darned soon."

Castonzo is a Biochemistry major at BC, and was nominated as a Rhodes Scholar. Head Coach Jim Caldwell talked about Castonzo's high intelligence:

"He's smart. That's something that obviously we look for in terms of making certain our guys can grasp the material, catch on quickly, and he's one of those guys. A guy that majors in biochemistry and is a finalist for a Rhodes Scholarship is obviously a pretty heady guy so we're excited."

Caldwell also talked about where he sees Castonzo fitting into the Colts lineup next season:

"We'll get him in and plug him in there and see how he does, but I think it'll keep us from having to juggle as much as we've done previously."

The Colts were not expecting Castonzo to still be there at pick #22, especially since they had him rated as the best OT in the draft. Vice President and General Manager Chris Polian talked about how the early run on QBs helped their guy fall to them:

"It's always a fortunate position to be able to get a guy that as you go through the week and all your preparation you say, 'He's never going to be there, he's not there, he's picked,' and that was consistently the case as we worked through our scenarios all week. We're just very fortunate, very happy things broke the way they did. Probably the number of quarterbacks going in the round helped push some of the offensive and defensive lineman down, and that's what probably made him available to us at our spot."

Added Bill Polian:

"Believe me, we spent the last four days working up scenarios and his name was never mentioned. We never even considered that he would get there."

The Colts definitely had a great start to their 2011 draft.