Hard not to be happy for Indianapolis Colts LB -- make that, starting LB -- Tyjuan Hagler

Indianapolis Colts S Melvin Bullitt (AP Photo)

An Indianapolis Colts story early this week made me very, very wrong, and at the same time, it actually made me happy.

It took a while. When I first received a post on my website, Indy Football Report, from a reader who had seen a just-released depth chart on Colts.com -- the team's official site -- that Tyjuan Hagler was starting ahead of Philip Wheeler, I spent the ensuing minutes figuring checking if was the real thing.

Assured it was, I wrote a brief item, then finished for the day. I did the family thing, then wrote a piece for Examiner that ran Tuesday about how the move and several others recently said a lot about the Colts' franchise, how President Bill Polian is willing to start late-drafted players ahead of early-drafted ones if the late-drafted player outplays the early-drafted one. That was the big-picture Colts theme of the day, but Tuesday, thinking about the events of the weekend, sifting through surprise releases and feel-good, rookies-make-the-cut stories, I kept going back to the story that broke Monday afternoon.

I kept going back to Hagler. And I kept feeling good for the guy.

Nothing against Wheeler, and to to be honest, no one has any idea how long Hagler will start. Maybe it's a one-week plan, or maybe it's long-term, but to know why it's hard not to feel good for Hagler, you just need to know briefly his story.

He was drafted in the fifth round from the University of Cincinnati in 2005, and spent that season on the Physically Unable to Perform list with a sports hernia That pretty much set the tone for his career. Each year, you'd hear how the Colts liked him -- liked his speed, and what he brought to the position -- and each season, he'd wind up playing a while, then being out a longer while. He played nine games in 2006, 12 in 2007 and spent the first six weeks of last season on PUP again. He moved around the Colts' linebacker corps, playing middle, strong and weakside at various times, earning a starting role in 2007 for a while, but losing the job to Clint Session when he missed the 2008 training camp. After last season, he became a free agent and when he did, I doubted he'd play for the Colts again. When the Colts re-signed him I, like many, thought something of it, but much. I assumed he'd be depth for a young pair of outside linebackers.

Not that Hagler saw it that way.

Here are some excerpts from a conversation I had with Hagler late last offseason:

“There's a lot of confidence. I'm very confident going into this year, because I have a lot to prove and I definitely believe I'm going to prove it. . . . I have a whole lot of confidence. I don't think I've played my best football yet. There's still a lot of football left in me. Injuries have slowed me down and kept me from performing, but I've got a lot of football in me and I'm only going to continue to get better. I've proven I can play at a high level in this league but in the same sense, I have to prove that I can stay healthy now and play a full 16 games. I know exactly what I'm doing. I don't make many mental mistakes at all, if any.

"I'm not frustrated at all. I definitely have a positive attitude toward everything and I'm looking forward to the season, because I believe it's going to be a huge year for me.

“I believe I'm definitely going to be able to showcase my talents.”

My thoughts? "Nice sentiment. Delusional, but nice sentiment." Here was a guy I figured had had his chance and how his chance was gone. I figured maybe he'd be a backup and if so, he'd be fortunate to be so.

But Hagler during that conversation also talked a lot about how much he liked the Colts' organization, how he felt comfortable with Colts President Bill Polian, and Head Coach Jim Caldwell. He talked about how he liked the team's honesty, that they had told him his situation, that with Wheeler entering his second year, there was a very real chance he wouldn't start this season. But Hagler said he also knew that around the Colts, if a player deserves to start, he starts.

As it turned out, he was right, and not for the first time and not for the last, I was wrong. And this time, I didn't mind a bit.

Quickly, a look at five guys around the Indianapolis Colts for him it's hard not to root:

5. Melvin Bullitt (pictured above), third season, safety. Has played in S Bob Sanders' absence in recent seasons, and despite playing well enough to start, never has complained publicly or hinted at being bothered by the safety-valve-at-safety role.

4. Hagler, fourth season, linebacker.

3. T.J. Rushing, fourth season, cornerback/returner. I've said this before about Rushing: even when he's overlooked -- which seems often -- he somehow finds a way to perform well enough to make the roster. A seventh-round selection in the 2006 NFL Draft, he originally was drafted almost strictly as a returner, but he played well enough to get time at cornerback, which is how he thinks of himself. After missing last season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, he made the team this season as the punt returner, but in addition to playing corner in the preseason, he also played safety. He makes himself valuable any way he can, and for four years, he has been valuable enough to keep on the roster.

2. Kyle DeVan, first year, center. I'll be honest. I don't know DeVan's story in detail, but how can you not root for a guy who signed as a free agent this past spring from ArenaFootball2 and made the roster?

1. Ryan Lilja, sixth year, guard. Few who know Lilja aren't rooting for him in his return from a knee injury that forced him to miss last season. He's an honest guy who gets the most out of his ability. How modest is he? An undrafted free-agent, early in his career, offensive line coach Howard Mudd sometimes had to convince him he belonged in the NFL. He does, enough so that he's critical to the Colts' running offense. Word is he's in a good place right now, focused and enjoying playing football again. Good for him.

*** WHAT DO THE COLTS HAVE TO DO TO WIN THE AFC SOUTH? READ IFR EDITOR JOHN OEHSER'S FIVE KEYS HERE . . .

*** BREAKING DOWN THE ROSTER: IFR Editor John Oehser looks at the 2009 depth chart HERE.

*** THE CUTS: A list of the roster moves to get down to the 53-man limit HERE.

READ "COFFEE WITH THE COLTS: A NEXT-DAY GLANCE AT THE COLTS-BENGALS GAME WITH PRE-CUT DAY COMMENTS FROM INDIANAPOLIS COLTS PRESIDENT BILL POLIAN . . .

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