CBS Grades Indianapolis Colts Hire of Shane Steichen
The Indianapolis Colts went through a long, tenuous process of interviewing more than a dozen head coach candidates before settling on former Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Shane Steichen.
The longer the process drew out, the more obvious it became that the Colts had zeroed in on one of the participants in the Super Bowl. Word began to leak over the weekend that Steichen would be the guy, and he was announced in Indianapolis on Tuesday.
What did Tyler Sullivan of CBS Sports think of the hire for the Colts? He graded the move a 'B' in his column on Tuesday night.
First and foremost, he's not Jeff Saturday, so the Colts will be getting someone with extensive experience as a coach in the NFL. The arrival of Steichen is fascinating because it may tell us what Indianapolis is thinking in terms of how it wants to approach identifying its vacant quarterback position.
Steichen, who is now the youngest head coach in the franchise's history, has experience not only developing young quarterbacks but developing them to an elite level. He was on hand as the OC in Los Angeles when Justin Herbert burst onto the scene and helped him throw for 4,336 yards and 31 touchdowns during his rookie season in 2020. More recently in Philly, Steichen also helped Jalen Hurts develop into a runner-up for NFL MVP.
So, if the Colts do decide to draft a quarterback with their No. 4 overall pick, they now have a coach equipped with the skills to help him make that transition to the NFL a bit easier. -- Tyler Sullivan, CBS Sports
Hurts had a 87.2 quarterback rating in 2021 and jumped to a 101.5 in 2022. Steichen was creative in the ways he used the running game with Hurts, and his completion percentage, yards per attempt, and yards per completion all increased from 2021 to 2022.
The Colts are in the market for a quarterback.
After years of failing with stopgap solutions including Matt Ryan in 2021, it seems as if the Colts are ready to invest in their quarterback of the future in 2023.
They currently have the No. 4 overall pick, but they've continually been linked with trading up to take their pick of the litter in April.
Whether they come away with Alabama's Bryce Young, Ohio State's C.J. Stroud, or Kentucky's Will Levis, they can feel confident they have the right coach get the most from him.
