Colts HC reveals the question he asks every NFL Draft prospect
The Indianapolis Colts have a huge NFL Draft ahead of them in just a few days. While the spotlight is shining brightly upon the team's fourth overall pick, the one they could use to take a shot at their next franchise quarterback, they also hold the 39th and 79th overall picks within the Top 100. […]
The Indianapolis Colts have a huge NFL Draft ahead of them in just a few days. While the spotlight is shining brightly upon the team's fourth overall pick, the one they could use to take a shot at their next franchise quarterback, they also hold the 39th and 79th overall picks within the Top 100.
Every single one will matter as the team tries to turn things around after a disappointing 4-12-1 record in 2022. Colts head coach Shane Steichen understands so in his first year at the wheel of the franchise.
So how does he go about finding the right players for his new team? Sure, there's an entire scouting department and a general manager involved in the process. But what does the man who was coaching a Super Bowl offense just a couple of months ago look for in these prospects?
"I just want guys that love ball, guys that are just football guys," Steichen said on The Pat McAfee Show on Friday. "Those guys who really love the game of football, those are the guys who have success in this league… Those guys that stick around for 10-plus years they all kind of have that trait in common."
That might sound like a generic answer at first sight. Upon further review, however, there's a lot of wisdom to it. Plenty of super-talented players have failed time and time again because of a lack of interest and commitment to the grind of the NFL.
In order to find those "football guys," Steichen approaches them with one question as he described to McAfee.
"I want to know their weekly process. I want to know these guys' Sunday through Friday (they play on a Saturday), what they do to prepare to get ready," revealed the Colts head coach. "From every detail, when they come in the building, when they leave, how they watch tape, how they break it down, and when they workout."
Ultimately, most of the player evaluation process will fall in the hands of the scouting department and of Chris Ballard, whose seat is hot entering this offseason. But the Colts head coach knows exactly what he's looking for.
