What to Make of Colts Owner Jim Irsay's Comments on Bryce Young

The Colts just hired Steichen as their next head coach. Coming from an offensive background and his work with quarterbacks, Steichen is sure to have a voice in the room for who the Colts take as their next quarterback. Steichen detailed what he looks for in a quarterback on Tuesday.

“I think accuracy, decision making and the ability to create are the three things that I look at in a quarterback," Steichen said. "I think those all three things are very important but obviously, above the neck, the players that I’ve been around – Jalen Hurts, Justin Herbert and Philip Rivers, they all have one thing in common. They’re obsessed with their craft. If you can find that in a quarterback, you’ll probably have some success.”

Do those qualities describe Young? Absolutely. He is one of the most accurate passers in college football and is arguably the best improviser in the class.

However, Steichen has only been with the Colts for a couple of days. He is still trying to get settled and is currently working on building a coaching staff. His input on rookie quarterbacks will come down the line.

Another reason to believe Young is not the top quarterback at this moment for the Colts is general manager Chris Ballard.

Since Ballard became the GM of the Colts back in 2017, he has certainly created a "type" when it comes to acquiring players in the draft. Ballard loves players with high-end physical traits. Height, weight, speed, and explosiveness mean a lot to Ballard when evaluating prospects.

Ballard has been known to stay away from players at certain positions if they do not reach his specific metrics when it comes to height and weight. Ballard has never drafted a wide receiver under 6'0" and 200 pounds. He had to be convinced to take a flier on Kenny Moore II because the cornerback was only 5'9".

Young is another outlier when it comes to size. While listed at 6'0" and 194 pounds at Alabama, many believe those numbers are larger than Young's actual size. There are serious concerns from NFL personnel that Young will measure in under both of those numbers at the NFL Scouting Combine in a couple of weeks.

We will see if Young's raw ability will be enough for Ballard to go against his requirements. But remember, the Colts under Irsay have never taken a quarterback under 6'3" in the first round of the NFL draft.

The most important part of all of this is we are still very early in the draft cycle. The Combine has not even happened yet, which allows teams to meet with some of these players one-on-one for the first time. How a player performs in these interviews can be crucial for their draft stock.

After the Combine, players will then participate in Pro Days back at their schools. NFL personnel will get another opportunity to watch these players up close in a variety of drills and meet with them individually once again.

The top 30 visits follow the Pro Days, allowing teams to host up to 30 prospects at their facility. These visits include more interviews and meetings with the team, a tour of the facility, and workouts held by the Colts' coaching staff with the player.

While all this is happening, Ballard, Steichen, and the rest of the Colts' scouting department will spend days together in meetings as they finally sort out their draft board and determine which prospects they like the best.