Jim Harbaugh likes to play catch with prospects

For the past several weeks, San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh has been hitting the road in search of NFL talent. 

Rather than set up a one-on-one interview with prospects to gauge their personality away from the field, as most NFL teams do, Harbaugh prefers to evaluate potential draft picks through a simple game of catch.

"You're always sizing somebody up," Harbaugh said, via Kevin Clark of the Wall Street Journal.

"I'm not trying to look in their eyes. Just trying to see how they catch."

Harbaugh doesn't toss the pigskin to just anyone, though.

"We've never played catch," 49ers CEO Jed York said. "He's not trying to gauge my competitiveness. He's a quarterback and because of that, he wants to bring another element."

Harbaugh has been focusing his attention on quarterbacks as of late, and said he's met with as many this year as he did in 2011, when the 49ers selected Colin Kaepernick in the second round.

According to Clark, those who have watched Harbaugh's games of catch describe them as "unusually serious."

Said Eastern Illinois quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo recently: "He saw me, introduced himself and said, 'Wanna throw a little?'"