Following the 2023 Draft, the Indianapolis Colts are being praised for the class they selected, and general manager Chris Ballard has to be thrilled with the feedback.
Chris Ballard has always been considered a great draft general manager, and he proved that again during the 2023 NFL Draft. Ballard and the Indianapolis Colts selected 12 players with immense upside over the three-day event, and several experts have been praising Indy for the draft class they put together.
For as good as Ballard is in the draft, he doesn’t make his process or drafting strategy a secret. As he has said countless times, Ballard is all about traits. The specific traits he emphasizes are size and athleticism. However, the Colts don’t strictly go off combine results, they like to pair the testing with tape. Indy ultimately believes the players with good tape and elite traits have the best chance at succeeding in the NFL.
The result is a draft class with 12 good football players that proved to have elite athleticism during the pre-draft process. With the NFL Draft now concluded, the Colts are being recognized as the most athletic draft class. Considering Ballard’s scouting philosophy, he has to love that.
Each of the @Colts' ten draft picks who were invited to the combine earned a NGS athleticism score of 75 or above, tied for the most in a team's draft class since 2003.
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) April 29, 2023
Which other teams emphasized high-end athletes in the 2023 NFL Draft?
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Colts have the most athletic 2023 Draft class
According to Next Gen Stats, Indianapolis has the most athletic draft class since 2003. It’s easy to see how that’s the case when Indy started its draft with an elite athlete like Anthony Richardson. Richardson stole the show at the combine, setting quarterback records in some categories. The Colts followed that selection up with Julius Brents, another player that showed out at the combine.
All 12 draft picks had elite athleticism. Indy literally drafted Adetomiwa Adebawore in the fourth round, a 282-pound defensive tackle that ran a 4.49 40-yard dash. There’s no questioning that if the Combine was a competition, Indy’s draft class would win.
The IndianapolRAS #Colts, as someone called them earlier, took only players with elite #RAS. And in general, not just elite, but like, top shelf elite. pic.twitter.com/lNvvTb9oX7
— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) April 29, 2023
However, while it’s great that the Colts do have the most athletic draft class, the important thing is that the athleticism translates. Being a great athlete doesn’t always equal being a great football player. Great football players are what Indy is hoping to have drafted. Time will tell if that’s the case or not.
READ MORE: Grading all 12 draft picks for the Colts in the 2023 NFL Draft