Heehee, ok. A Colts fan here, albeit a green one.
The new OC is Bruce Arians, so we like to focus a bit on Arian's history in Pits. He primarily works with bruising back like Bettis. But the last decade he worked with FWP, Mendenhall, and last year Redman. I don't see Brown being similar to any of those backs, but could be closest to Redman.
After watching the pre-season game (yes i know, you really can't gain much from pre-season), Brown seems comfortable as he's not asked to pass block too much, because Luck got legs.
I'm in favor of taking Brown with my 7th or 8th pick in a 12 team league. In a 10 team, i'm more apt to wait till mid 8 or rd 9.
I do believe Brown can outperform his ADP, but drafting him higher than 6th is not something I would do, as there are still guys like Stewart, DeAngelo, Tate and Spiller that I would take ahead of Brown
As both a Brown owner and a long-time Steeler's homer, I feel like I can chime in on this a bit.I don't think Arians was ever the OC while Bettis was still in Pittsburgh, but Arians does seem to favor traditional 2 down runners with a different back to handle 3rd down duties,
not that Arians ever threw to the RB anyway. Honestly, I've never understood why he was like that, especially once they got Mendenhall, a guy that showed in college that he's a competent receiver that works well in space.
Of the backs that Arians has worked with, I'd say that Brown compares most favorably to Willie Parker. They're very similar sizes (FWP 5'10" 209lbs, Brown 5'10" 210lbs) and they both have a bit of a perception as more competent outside than inside runners, deservedly or not. But hey, being compared to a guy that put up some very excellent seasons is never a bad thing. I don't see any reason to believe that Brown can't have a season similar to what Parker was capable of: about 1200 yards, 7ish TDs, and no more than 30 receptions.