INDIANAPOLIS – The Colts are intrigued about the talent of Jordan Love.
They are fans of his.
But do they like Love enough to spend a valuable draft resource on him this Thursday (or Friday) night?
Would that mean trading back into the first round for Love, with the hope that he is the QB that slides, and slides, and slides?
It’s questions like these, with many prospects, that the Colts have mulled over for the past few weeks and months.
Back at the Combine in February, Chris Ballard was asked specifically about Love, and the 17 interceptions the Utah State quarterback threw this past season.
“He’s very talented,” Ballard first stated.
The GM then pointed out that Love had a ‘heck of a 2018 season’ when he was coached by Matt Wells. Following the 2018 season, in which Love threw for 32 touchdowns and had just 6 interceptions, Wells left to become the head coach at Texas Tech.
Under a new coaching staff, and vastly different offensive personnel, Love admittedly pressed too much in 2019.
He threw 20 touchdowns and 17 interceptions, while seeing his completion percentage and yards per attempt dip a bit, too. Ballard noted that now Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan tossed 19 interceptions in his final season at Boston College (and was still drafted No. 3 overall), so taking a closer look at Love’s INTs was a must.
One giant question mark that any NFL team (especially the Colts) has with Love comes from what was on his plate at Utah State.
Having a bunch of pre-snap responsibilities at the line of scrimmage, something Frank Reich wants his quarterback to do, was not something Love did.
“In the run game, I didn’t have much control over that,” the three-year starter says. “With the (pass) protections, the center’s going to be making all those adjustments. Protection slides and things like that.”
Of course, reasons like this are why Love might have to wait a bit on Thursday night to hear his name called.
The beautiful deep ball, ability to make throws all over the field and quick release are appealing though.
If Love’s name is still on the board when Pick No. 20 rolls around, would the Colts gauge moving up?
What about sending No. 34 and No. 75 overall to Buffalo for No. 22 overall, thus climbing one spot ahead of New England at No. 23?
The Colts trading up is not something that has been common under Ballard.
However, there’s a glaring need for the Colts when talking about the long-term answer at quarterback.
But would the slide of the intriguing Love alter that thinking, similar to the shift in philosophy we saw in last month’s approach to free agency?
