Good morning, Colts fans.  After an exciting and exhausting NFL Draft weekend, it’s time to have a closer look at each member of the Colts’ 2013 draft class.  All week, Nate Dunlevy will be discussing reasonable baseline expectations for each player based on how similarly drafted players have done in recent years (You can click on Nate’s most recent columns in the series here and here). 

In addition, we’ll be familiarizing ourselves with each of this year’s rookies in a series of Colts Notebooks with post draft quotes.  Leading off is the very talkative Bjoern Werner.  Werner is quite the character, and his answers and comments have been filtered down over the weekend.  Now, prepare yourself for some Bjoern, straight-up.

Welcome to "What to Expect 2013". For the next week or so, I'll be looking at the positions the Colts drafted relative to their historic counterparts.

Hugh Thornton (Bradley Leeb- USA TODAY)

The goal of this series is to set reasonable expectations for the new draft picks based how similarly drafted players in the past decade performed.

This allows us to create fair baselines by which to judge players. The purpose of this series is not to predict performance.

The Colts drafted a pair of interior linemen in the 3rd and 4th rounds. We'll examine them together.

Hugh Thornton and Khaled Holmes both have experience playing guard. Holmes also can play center. So with history as a guide, what can Colts fans reasonably expect from these players in 2013?

UCLA CB Sheldon Price was one of the top corner prospects left. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea- USA TODAY)Undrafted free agents are the lifeblood of training camp. The Colts will be signing them left and right as the draft ends, and keep this page open as we update it with each signing as they come in. 

Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports	Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports

The Colts held the 24^th and 48^th picks in Round 7 of the 2013 NFL Draft.  With the 24^th, they selected Utah State Running Back Kerwynn Williams, a projected 5^th round prospect. 

With the 48^th pick in the 7^th round, the 254^th and final pick in the draft, Indianapolis elected to give a chance to South Carolina Tight End Justice Cunningham.

With the 24^th pick in the 6^th round, the Colts picked up Oregon Safety John Boyett.  Boyett, a 5-10, 204 pound wild man at safety and a former high school quarterback, is another player who had an excellent 2011 season only to be slowed or sidelined by injuries in 2012.  This is now officially a theme of sorts for Ryan Grigson. 

Boyett racked up 108 tackles, an interception, a half sack, and 6 passes defensed in 2011 (He also had 5 interceptions in 2010).  Bothered by partial patella tendon tears throughout that season, Boyett had surgery on both knees after just one game in 2012.

(Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports)

The Colts traded a 2014 4^th round pick to Cleveland so they could select Tennessee-Martin Defensive Tackle Montori Hughes with the 6^th pick in the 5^th round, continuing a trend of selecting linemen on both sides of the ball.  At 6-4, 329 pounds, Hughes is a relatively athletic big man.  He flew under the radar for much of his college career after being dismissed for unspecified off the field issues after a season at the University of Tennessee.  Hughes also struggled with academic eligibility before his dismissal, having to play a year at Hargrave Military Academy before he could even get into UT.

(Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports)

With the 24^th pick in the 4^th round, the Indianapolis Colts selected Center Khaled Holmes from USC.  At 6-3, 302 pounds,  Holmes is known more as a crafty, technician on the offensive line than a bruising road grader.  His injury and bench reps (13) at the NFL Combine probably didn’t help his draft stock much.  He missed time with a leg injury last season, and USC struggled without him.  Holmes is known for being a smart, quick, aggressive center who plays to the whistle (more after the jump).

Welcome to "What to Expect 2013". For the next week or so, I'll be looking at the positions the Colts drafted relative to their historic counterparts.

The goal of this series is to set reasonable expectations for the new draft picks based how similarly drafted players in the past decade performed.

This allows us to create fair baselines by which to judge players. The purpose of this series is not to predict performance. As we start with defensive end/outside linebacker Bjoern Werner, keep in mind that the goal is not to say what he'll do. That's impossible.

This series will help us decide what's fair to expect out of him, so that next January we can appropriately evaluate the pick.

Bradley Leeb-USA TODAY Sports

With the 24^th pick in the third round of the NFL Draft, the Colts addressed a need at offensive guard, electing to pick Hugh Thornton, a rather large OG out of the University of Illinois and the 6^th rated guard in the draft, according to CBS Sports.  At 6-3, 320 pounds, Thornton still has some decent agility to stay in front of defensive linemen, but he’s known more for being a strong, overpowering lineman – perhaps a bit of a road grader.  Maybe it’s fitting that he was introduced by former Colts LT Tarik Glenn, who was an exceptionally powerful offensive lineman in his day (though probably a bit more athletic than Thornton).

(Brad Penner - USA TODAY Sports)

With the 24th pick in the first round the Colts selected Florida State defensive end Bjoern Werner. Coach Chuck Pagano has stated he will play outside linebacker for the Colts but that is about the least interesting factoid from the first night of the draft.

Werner is notably German and as ESPN points out the last likely player to ever be drafted that can be considered a product of NFL Europe. Werner grew up dreaming of being a soccer player but his size and affinity for American football drove him to try something new:

"We were a soccer family," Bjoern says. "My dad played soccer, watched it like people in America watch football every weekend, you know what I'm saying? Both my brothers played soccer, everyone. I mean, I love soccer; I played it, too."

There was just one problem: Bjoern -- bigger and heavier and a head taller than all the other kids -- wasn't built like a soccer player. "Soccer is hard on your ankles, you know?" he says. "Even at a young age, I was getting a lot of sprained ankles. Then one time, I broke my foot."

He was only 10 years old, but the injury, Bjoern says, marked a turning point. For a year and a half, he had to stop playing soccer and even table tennis, at which he'd been a standout for a club team. Then, at about the time he was fully healed, a pal who belonged to Berlin Eagle (an American-football club) made a suggestion. "You can throw the ball," the kid said, "you can catch it, you're real athletic. Why don't you join the flag football team?"

Werner's time in the United States has not been without challenge. He made his first attempt in the States as a teenager at a prep school but found himself homesick and returned to his native Berlin. After being recruited by Florida State Werner, now married, finally found the courage and strength to commit to the game.