Insider: What the Colts are watching when scouting quarterbacks at the NFL Combine

[JAFF]

https://www.indystar.com/story/sport...e/69964163007/

INDIANAPOLIS — Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud, Kentucky’s Will Levis and Florida’s Anthony Richardson are expected to throw in Saturday night’s prime time quarterback workouts, putting their skills on display for all 32 teams and a national TV audience. Alabama’s Bryce Young prefers to wait until his Pro Day.

The Colts, like every other NFL team and particularly the teams with a gaping need at quarterback, will be watching.

Indianapolis just won’t put much stock in these workout sessions.

“To be honest, their tape tells us everything,” Ballard said. “We want every kid to work out and throw, but they’re throwing on air, let’s be real. And then they’re throwing on air to wideouts they’ve never really thrown with. Let’s be realistic here: They’ve all got plenty of tape to watch.”


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Tape the Colts have already been poring over for years.

And tape of a lot of games that Ballard and the rest of the Indianapolis scouting department watched in person, to boot. This week’s NFL scouting combine kicks the hype surrounding the draft into high gear, but in reality, Indianapolis has already done a mountain of work on the physical abilities of the quarterbacks the Colts are considering with the No. 4 pick.


“Every year, we try to get our eyes on the quarterbacks, and usually try to do it a year in advance,” Ballard said. “Usually, we’re not just studying these guys one year, we’re studying for their careers. So you know, we’ve seen these guys play a lot of football games live.”

New Indianapolis head coach Shane Steichen hasn’t had the same opportunity.


When the Colts scouting department was on the road the past two years, Steichen was preparing for Eagles games, and he does like to get a look at the quarterback’s mechanics in the Combine and Pro Day settings.

“For me, more than anything, it’s just to see their arm motion, their fundamentals, their technique, how they’re doing it,” Steichen said.



But that doesn’t mean it’s going to sway Steichen’s opinion one way or another.

For example, Young’s decision to skip throwing in Indianapolis in favor of throwing at his Pro Day doesn’t bother Steichen at all.

“I don’t think that’s a make or break for me,” Steichen said. “Obviously, they’re throwing to guys they haven’t thrown to, and they’re going to miss throws. That’s not going to be a big factor to me, where if a guy misses two or three throws, I’m going to be like: ‘Oh, we’re not going to draft a guy because of that.’”

That doesn’t mean the Colts view the NFL scouting combine as a waste in the evaluation process.

Indianapolis does its most important Combine work on the quarterbacks away from the cameras. The training staff gets a chance to check out each quarterback medically. Steichen begins the process of putting the quarterback’s brains to work, figuring out how they process information, how they pursue their craft and how they study. 
“You’ve got to have a detailed plan when you go and meet with these guys, whether it’s here at the combine or there (at the pro day), are they coming for the top-30 visit?” Steichen said. “Here’s the plan, here’s how we’re going to find these things out.”


Ballard wants to see how the quarterbacks handle the Combine pressure cooker.

While quarterbacks like Young and Stroud have been at the focal point of College Playoff-caliber programs their entire careers, and both Levis and Richardson have helmed SEC schools, there is a weight to being picked in the top 10 that’s hard to describe.

Ballard’s aware of the pressure of that mantle, believes it’s one of the reasons that so many talented first-round quarterbacks fail to make it in the NFL.

“I’ll tell you where you get something from it, is watching these media sessions,” Ballard said. “How do they handle the media? How do they handle the week’s process? How do they handle the stress of what’s going on? That just gives you a preview of what you’re going to see when they get into our league.”

The previews of the throws they can make, the Colts have already seen them.


All of those throws were made on college football fields the past couple of years.

[Colts And Orioles]

o


Whomever the Colts' quarterback is in the foreseen future, I hope that he has a good offensive line, such as the line that a 39 year-old, immobile Philip Rivers had blocking for him in 2020.

Darryl Lamonica, Ken Stabler, and Jim Plunkett all looked composed and cerebral when they had the greatest offensive line in the history of professional football blocking for them from the mid-1960's through the early-1980's.

o

[Ironshaft]

Originally Posted by Colts And Orioles

o

Whomever the Colts' quarterback is in the foreseen future, I hope that he has a good offensive line, such as the line that a 39 year-old, immobile Philip Rivers had blocking for him in 2020.

Darryl Lamonica, Ken Stabler, and Jim Plunkett all looked composed and cerebral when they had the greatest offensive line in the history of professional football blocking for them from the mid-1960's through the early-1980's. o

Agreed.

If it were in my power, I would:

1. Cut Ryan Kelly saving $7.8m in cap space
2. Sign free agent OG Ben Powers or Dalton Risner to play right OG.
3. Draft best available OC with the #36 draft pick

Starters - Raimann, Nelson, Rookie, Free Agent, Smith
Depth - French, Fries, Pinter

Still need a swing depth OT in free agency (or two with a lower round draft pick) but, hopefully, that would be enought talent to get a good O-line back online.

All this after, of course, drafting the best available QB with pick #4.

[YDFL Commish]

Originally Posted by Ironshaft

Agreed.

If it were in my power, I would:

1. Cut Ryan Kelly saving $7.8m in cap space
2. Sign free agent OG Ben Powers or Dalton Risner to play right OG.
3. Draft best available OC with the #36 draft pick

Starters - Raimann, Nelson, Rookie, Free Agent, Smith
Depth - French, Fries, Pinter

Still need a swing depth OT in free agency (or two with a lower round draft pick) but, hopefully, that would be enought talent to get a good O-line back online.

All this after, of course, drafting the best available QB with pick #4.

I like your plan. I would cut MOC as well. I also would really like the C out of Minnesota Schmitz.

[YDFL Commish]

I would like to also add some young guards to the list...Evan Brown, Cody Ford and Nate Herbig.