2023 NFL Draft: Indianapolis Colts assembled the freakiest class; five picks that took me by surprise

Maybe it’s becoming that the NFL draft is held in the course of the NBA playoffs. With curiosity in skilled basketball peaking throughout this time of yr, NFL executives and scouts may watch extra hardwood motion as they put the ending touches on their scouting experiences and draft-room displays. Clearly, the video games are vastly totally different and require distinct talent units, however the NFL scouting group appears to be taking some cues from their NBA brethren relating to using a “draft and develop” method that emphasizes superior bodily dimensions and athletic traits whereas difficult evaluators to grasp the distinction between pure expertise and realized developmental abilities.

A prospect’s pure expertise is his mixture of dimension, size, power and total athleticism. These traits cannot actually be developed or improved upon on the basketball courtroom. Whereas a participant can turn into a greater dribbler, passer and shooter — the realized developmental abilities — by diligent work underneath the watchful eye of a coach. With the NBA churning out success tales on traits-based prospects like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kawhi Leonard, Russell Westbrook and Jimmy Butler, amongst many others, possibly NFL evaluators are putting extra worth on drafting for upside, with a larger emphasis on participant improvement.

Indianapolis Colts normal supervisor Chris Ballard, particularly, is clearly focusing on traits. In truth, the GM harassed precisely this to his scouting workers final yr, as featured within the staff’s draft collection, “With The Subsequent Decide.”

“I need to ensure we’re getting the very best guys with traits,” Ballard advised his prices. “Let’s guess on the traits — guess on high-end, high-end traits.”

And true to kind, Ballard and Co. have completed precisely that, amassing a set of athletic freaks in back-to-back drafts. In 2022, the Colts’ first 4 picks have been traitsy prospects who turned heads on the NFL Scouting Mix (which, by the best way, appropriately takes place in Indianapolis): WR Alec Pierce, TE Jelani Woods, OT Bernhard Raimann and S Nick Cross. This yr, although, Ballard appeared to take the athleticism binge to a different stage, beginning with the No. 4 total decide within the draft.