Colts shouldn’t draft athleticism over production
The evaluation period leading up to the NFL Draft is a time where many often obsess over certain measurements and tests that don’t ultimately mean anything for many players.
Every year, analysts, fans, and teams begin dissecting players’ hand size and 40 times and verticals and all these things that don’t directly translate to how good of a football player they are.
Yes, every team wants athletic players that can excel at everything, but at the end of the day, the NFL is about playing football. The numbers that are posted in the spring don’t always correlate with what a player can do in the fall.
Even though that has been proven countless times, teams still allow prospects’ pre-draft numbers to affect how they feel about them and where they will draft them.
That’s why a player like Notre Dame’s safety Kyle Hamilton, who demonstrated sideline-to-sideline speed in college, is sliding down draft boards after a 4.59 40-yard dash.
That’s the case for talented receiver David Bell as well. Bell dominated the collegiate game since he stepped foot on Purdue’s campus, leaving as a Biletnikoff finalist. However, his stock has taken a hit after he ran a 4.65 40-yard dash.
If the Colts have the opportunity to select one of these guys with elite college tape, they should draft them instead of gambling on a guy that wasn’t as impressive on the field but moves well in spandex.
At the end of the day, the Draft is a gamble, and there are a lot of factors that go into having a successful career. A guy that was great in college could be mediocre at best in the NFL and a player with an average college career that is extremely athletic could end up having a Hall of Fame career.
However, since it’s all a gamble, it makes more sense to bet on the player that has a proven history of excelling at football.