Grabbing premier talent early in the NFL Draft is important as it expedites the rebuilding process, but finding those late-round gems and sleepers are truly what helps teams make significant jumps.
Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard will continuously look for hidden gems in the draft, but he admitted Monday during his pre-draft press conference that it’s getting more difficult to do so with the landscape of the scouting world.
“Everybody sees it – the scouting world is flat now, I think I have said this to y’all a few times. With so many people getting their eyes on players, the scouting world is flat,” Ballard told reporters. “Guys that we used to be able to get later in the draft, it’s hard to do now.”
With the way social media works now and the fact that anyone can find film on prospects if they search hard enough, it can make it difficult for a talented late-round prospect to go unnoticed.
This forces teams to look even harder at the draft crops hoping to find a projectable playmaker during Day 3 of the draft. However, it’s getting more challenging than ever.
“They used to be hidden gems, well now you are seeing them they are going higher in the draft,” Ballard said.
The Colts are set to have nine selections in the draft, three within the top 60 and four in the top 100. They will also enter the draft with five selections on Day 3.
Finding those late-round gems will be difficult enough, but Ballard and his team are hopeful to come out of the draft with some promising prospects to develop into heavy contributors.
