Six highlights from Tomlin, Colbert pre-draft press conference

5. EVALUATION OF POTENTIAL DRAFT PICKS

Kevin Colbert and Mike Tomlin spent a lot of time scouting ahead of the 2014 NFL Draft. They reiterated Monday in their press conference that they not only looked at the scheme the players played in college, but also their athletic ability and character.

When asked if bowl games, the NFL Scouting Combine and pro days allowed Tomlin to evaluate a player’s pedigree and athleticism, he answered, “It’s just that, what pro day workouts and combine workouts are about. It’s about the opportunity to look at them in shorts and evaluate their overall pedigree and level of athleticism, body control and what have you and place a value on them along with upside and learning and things that you do in terms of being able to forecast where they might go.”

Colbert focused on a question about evaluating defensive players. “You always know what your defense is going to ask of a player…If (prospects) play a bunch of press and they don’t play a lot of off (coverage) or they don’t play a lot of zone then you’re guessing as to whether they can and that’s where you just have to look at basics of size, athleticism, awareness, instinct, ball skills.” Colbert added that part of the evaluation is trying to weigh all of the information. “Can (the player) do what we’re going to ask him to do? It’s just an educated guess.”

“It’s our job to evaluate the pedigree along with the upside and maybe quantify the learning curve,” added Tomlin, “if it constitutes a position change or a strong technique change relative to schematics that goes across the board as we look at all of these guys or most of these guys.”

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7