The Indianapolis Colts used a seventh-round pick to select wide receiver Mike Strachan in the 2021 draft out of the Division-II Charleston, hoping his skill set will catch up to his dominating physicality.
For Division-II players, it’s a bit harder to get on the NFL radar and was even more difficult thanks to COVID-19 shutting down their season. Many schools didn’t even have the chance to hold a pro day. But that didn’t stop Strachan, who attended a pro day at West Virginia.
The rest is history when he blew the doors off the competition during the spring.
“I got to West Virginia’s Pro Day (and) here’s a guy coming from a small school (Charleston) that didn’t play (last season due to the pandemic),” said Colts area scout Chad Henry. “He’s in phenomenal shape. He’s in as good a shape as anyone at the workout. He blows up the testing, and then they go to run routes and it was clear that this guy has been busting his butt. He put on a show. He said, ‘I can do more than just run streaks.’The D-II guy who goes to the Power 5 Pro Day, and he was the star. The star of the day. And there was never a doubt the entire day.”
It’s always harder to believe in Division-II prospects simply because the competition level is so vast when they get to the league. Strachan has the size (6’5″, 226) to be an X-receiver, but he has to develop his game.
But Henry believes there is plenty of upside to be had thanks to Strachan’s work ethic and current abilities.
“He’s raw and there’s some development still (to come), but there’s a lot of upside,” Henry said. “The performance was there. You throw on the tape and you know who he is right away, just because of the way he looks, the way he moves and the way he produces. There’s going to be a learning curve, but the upside is there and the kid is willing to do it.”
Strachan will be competing for the final spot in the wide receiver room, and it will be interesting to see how he looks in pads against NFL defenders.
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