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INDIANAPOLIS It’s foolish to expect a rookie left tackle to walk into the NFL and not go through some growing pains.

So when drafting a left tackle and projecting him at such a coveted position, there’s an element to the evaluation that must acknowledge how such a guy will bounce back.

Colts area scout Chad Henry checked that box for Bernhard Raimann in doing homework on the Central Michigan product.

“He’s a special kid now,” Henry says of Raimann. “He grows up in Austria, where football is not really a thing. He discovers it, loves it, plays semi-pro ball over there, wants to play ball, so he comes in this exchange program, goes to a small school, plays tight end his first two years in Central Michigan, gets on the field.

“He’s intelligent. He’s confident. He’s a worker. He believes in himself. He’s coachable. I mean it.”

Where Kevin Rogers, the Colts Director of Player Personnel, saw some resilience from Raimann came on film, in the biggest measuring stick games of the season.

“Whether it was when they played LSU early in the year or whether it was at the Senior Bowl, even when (Raimann) starts rough, he finds a way to self-correct,” Rogers observed. “He’s a competitive kid and he’s smart. That competitive drive that’s in him will help maximize what’s in his body.”

One of the biggest questions about Raimann entering the draft (besides his older age of 24 years old) was with his wingspan.

Raimann’s arm length of just under 33 inches is a reason why even the Colts acknowledge he fell to Round 3.

But it’s the soccer/tight end background of Raiman, making the Colts believe that his footwork will allow him to be more frequently in proper position, therefore not needing to rely on longer arms to bail him out.

“You consider the arm length, but there are plenty of starting tackles playing in the league that have a little bit shorter arms,” Rogers says. “Braden Smith is a guy that people questioned whether his arm length is going to enable him to survive. And really, the way the tackle position is anymore, I mean, right and left, they’re almost interchangeable. It’s a pass-protection league; you got to pass pro on the right and left.

“He’s got great lean body mass, 250 pounds of lean mass. He’s got the feet to center up on the edge. I mean, there’s plenty physically for him to survive on the outside.”

Entering training camp, Matt Pryor (2 career starts at left tackle) will get the first look at left tackle, with Raimann also involved in that competition.

Seeing Raimann getting beat at Grand Park will certainly happen.

But how he reacts to that is something the Colts keep on going back to in believing in him at the top level of football.

“He’s like, a sponge, picks things up really quick (and) he’s got a top one percent work ethic,” Henry says of Raimann.

“I think he fits in our culture. One thing Chris (Ballard) always talks about is, ‘We want guys who are coachable, we want guys who want to get better.’ I think that he fits that to a T.”