Schlereth: Broncos need to find ‘football players,’ not athletes

Feb 25, 2019, 7:58 AM

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Heading into the NFL Scouting Combine this week, “Schlereth and Evans” co-host Mark Schlereth said the Denver Broncos need to stick to the philosophy it subscribed to last offseason and find “football players,” not just athletes, this offseason.

Schlereth said that he understands how teams can get “enamored” with athleticism at events like the Combine, but “football is easy for football players” and it’s “really hard for athletes.”

“… You try to talk yourself into, well, if we could just make him a football player. Here’s my experience, you can’t,” Schlereth said. “You can’t just make him a football player. He either is one or he’s an athlete.”

Watching players run, watching them move on the field, is good, Schlereth said, but the most important thing about the Scouting Combine is the interview process.

“Get to know the guys. Can they articulate football? Can they articulate passion? Do they understand the game? What they say, does that match up with what you see on film?” Schlereth said. “Because the bottom line is if you can’t think, if you can’t understand, if you can’t anticipate, I don’t care how fast you run the 40 in, you’re not going to be a good football player.”

Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @JohnnyHart7.