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Tuesday, July 05, 2016

Colts scouts open up about Austin Blythe





By Michael Kaskey-Blomain
June 30, 2016

The Colts selected Austin Blythe in the seventh round of the 2016 NFL Draft. Blythe was a four-year starter at Iowa, and impressed scouts enough throughout his collegiate career to make it to the professional level.

Earlier this off-season, some Colts scouts expressed what they saw in Blythe to Colts.com:

T.J. McCreight (Director of College Scouting): “The leverage that takes to be a wrestler shows up on tape. The toughness, the tenacity, another player that we really liked. We picked four offensive linemen and we didn’t feel like we wanted to fix that position half way. We wanted to fix it all the way. After picking four linemen and picking four guys that have character, have position flexibility, you feel really good after we left on Saturday night that we picked four offensive linemen. With Austin, he can play guard, he can play center. He just has versatility and is smart. And he comes from a program where they really learn how to play offensive line.”

Todd Vasvari (Assistant Director of College Scouting): “Super smart. Super tough. Athletic. The wrestling background really helps. I think he had 188 wins in high school. I think he had 134 pins out of those 188 wins. He’s a three-time state champ. His freshman year, he finished runner-up. I asked him what happened the other 50 or so matches where he didn’t pin somebody. He said, ‘I either messed around with the guy or it was forfeit.’ Again, I think the leverage, the balance and his intelligence really help him and I think he’s going to be a good player. If you asked him before the draft, he would have said he was the best center in the draft. He really believes that.”

Matt Terpening (National Scout): “We saw him live against Michigan State in the Big Ten Championship game. Michigan State has some really good front seven players and this guy held his own in a really big game.”

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