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Two teams befuddle me each year in the NFL draft – Indianapolis and New England.

I spend the better part of two months researching players for the draft based on conversations with talent evaluators for all 32 teams. I build a draft board on the best-available-athlete theory. I stack all the players based on ability.

LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey was the most talented player on my board in 2008, and fullback Chris Alexander of Texas A&M was my lowest draftable player at No. 302.

Most teams identify ability on the draft board and select it when they go on the clock. But not the Colts and Patriots. They don't covet the best available player with their picks. They covet the best available fit.

So both teams generally score low on my draft grades. I gave both AFC powers a C again this year. But when they make their selections, the picks look better on their rosters than they do on the overall draft board.

Take San Diego State quarterback Kevin O'Connell, for instance. I rated him as a fourth-round value on my board heading into this draft. The Patriots took him in the third round. Technically, that was a reach.

But when you analyze the player and the team, he wasn't. O'Connell had the size (6-5, 225) and mobility (1,330 career rushing yards with 19 touchdowns) the NFL likes. But his 12-21 career record as a starting quarterback deflated his value. The guy doesn't win.

None of that mattered to the Patriots. They saw a guy who was a rare four-year captain. He has rare leadership skills. They drafted him on intangibles. Intangibles were the reason the Patriots drafted Tom Brady in 2000.

New England has a specific profile for players that fit who the Patriots are and what they want to do. Coach Bill Belichick, whose roots are on special teams, drafted UCLA safety Matt Slater in the fifth round. That was a reach on my board. I had him in the sixth.

But Slater was the best special-teams player on the board. He returns, blocks and covers kicks. The Patriots ranked in the top 12 last season in kick and punt returns and kick and punt coverage. Slater can make them better across the board on special teams.

Linebackers Jerod Mayo and Shawn Crable were two other reaches who look better on the Patriots than they did on the draft board. Mayo brings versatility to the position and Crable a pass rush.

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Viewed by some as a sixth-round talent, UCLA's Matt Slater was taken in the fifth round by the Patriots, who were attracted by his special teams play.

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Mike Pollak, Steve Justice and Jamey Richard all look better on the Colts than they did on the 2008 draft board. All were undersized, athletic centers in college. The Colts prefer their blockers to be tacticians, not maulers. Indy wants linemen who play the game with their minds as much as their bodies.

The Colts will convert two of those centers into guards, and all three of them will be starting two years from now on a division championship team.

Marcus Howard is woefully undersized for defensive end at 6-0, 237. But he has 4.46 speed in the 40-yard dash. Indianapolis bases its pass rush on speed, and previous undersized draft-day reaches Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis became double-digit sackers for the Colts.

I had Howard rated as a seventh-round value on my draft board. The Colts took him in the fifth. It would have been a reach for any team but the Colts. He's Mathis all over again.

Like I said, I scratch my head when the Colts and Patriots make their picks in April. But those teams will love the players on the field even more in the fall.