Colts face changes (cont.)

Pierre Garcon, a sixth-round pick last year, may get the No. 3 receiver spot. David Bergman/SI

• While waiting to interview Jeff Saturday, I watched him and Manning team up to shoot a cover photo for an upcoming issue of ESPN the Magazine. Manning, maybe the best commercial actor of our time, was on his game once again. Someone in the photo crew wanted to toss him a football for the shot, and asked if he was right-handed or left-handed? (Obviously not a big football fan, that one).

Without missing a beat, Manning channeled his best Yogi Berra and cracked: "I'm right(-handed). Actually, I'm amphibious.''

• As long as you don't too hung up on positions, it's an easy call to predict that Wayne, Gonzalez and tight end Dallas Clark will be the Colts' top three receivers in some order. But there's a great competition unfolding in camp for the role of the third wide receiver, behind Wayne and Gonzalez.

My sense is that the wonderfully named Pierre Garcon (he's "waited'' his turn, get it?) has the pole position. Garcon, a sixth-round pick last year out of Mount Union, made big strides in OTA's, and the Colts love his blend of size (6-0, 210), speed and good hands. But rookie Austin Collie (fourth round) out of BYU has his fans as well (Wayne and Manning are two of them), and he could force his way onto the field. Lastly, the 6-3, 240-pound Roy Hall, a third-year veteran who has struggled to stay healthy his first two years, is a fast and physical receiving option.

Caldwell told me that the position might be handled by committee, but more likely someone will step up and win the job this month. For you fantasy players out there, Garcon might be worth a late-round flyer.

• As soon as Dungy expressed willingness last month to continue mentoring Michael Vick, questions about the Colts and their potential interest in the ex-Falcons quarterback have been somewhat natural. But Caldwell made it clear to me that Indy won't be shopping in that market.

"Our quarterback situation is great right now,'' Caldwell said. "He's a talented guy, and I know he'll find a home somewhere. One thing you know, he's in good hands with Tony. I think you're going to see Tony can really help Mike in terms of the direction of his life, and it's going to be a very positive thing for Mike.''

Due to Manning's knack for staying healthy, the Colts in recent years have kept just two quarterbacks on the regular-season roster, with only backup Jim Sorgi in reserve. But if he looks promising enough this month, Indy might carry rookie Curtis Painter -- a sixth-round pick out of homestate Purdue -- as a developmental No. 3.

• Between the return to health of the offensive line and the drafting of Connecticut running back Donald Brown in the first round, I expect the Colts' running game to rebound considerably from last season's next-to-last ranking. One NFL personnel man I trust told me last April that Brown would eventually be the best runner coming out of this year's draft, and Caldwell sounds as if he's rapidly coming around to that point of view.

I asked Caldwell if Brown has flashed yet as a Colt? "Early and often,'' Caldwell said. "He's coming along. For a young player, he has a pretty good feel for what we do. And our offense is not the easiest to learn. It's a complex system that is enhanced by the speed at which Peyton can operate it, and he's been able to keep up.''

• I asked every Colt I talked to on Wednesday to tell me something about Jim Caldwell that most people wouldn't know. I liked Freeney's answer the best. Besides labeling Caldwell a little more vocal and hands-on than Dungy, Freeney informed me that he has known the Colts' new head coach since his own high school days.

"He recruited me to Wake Forest in high school, when he was their head coach,'' said Freeney, who went to Syracuse. "He came and sat on my couch and said, 'Hey, if you come to Wake Forest, you can play offense and defense.' It was a good pitch. It almost got me. I like to give him a little something from time to time: 'All right. Just remember, you thought I could play offense, so you've got to put me in there one time.' ''

• For a guy who doesn't have much of a high profile within the league's coaching ranks just yet, I found Caldwell knows his way around a good quote. He gave me a couple colorful sound bites on Wednesday.

First, when I asked him about how much the Colts have embraced changes from the way they did things under Dungy?

"It's not like it's an unimaginative replication of what's been done here in the past, OK?,'' he said. "We looked at things we kind of felt that needed to be changed.''

And secondly, when I asked him if he knew yet whether he had filled all of his team's holes this offseason?

"I don't think you ever completely know what you have until they start selling popcorn.''

T.O. couldn't have said it better.