Was just watching PTI and was struck when I heard Mike Wilbon say he would rather watch ice dancing than the NFL combine. Yes it's a meat market, yes watching 300+ pound men with their shirts off being tested for their athleticism isn't for the faint of stomach, and yes it is alot of time out of your day with very little reward but let's look at the combine for what it is.
The NFL is big business, and during the draft teams are making huge (sometimes literally) investments. These young men represent a good portion of a teams future. Some of the smartest men on this planet make their livings in NFL front offices, and of all the avenues available to them to build their team, there is not one that is as democratic as the draft. The worse you are in the win column, the better your draft position. And good drafting can build any team into a winner.
These FO types have to take many things into consideration before selecting a player. You have to consider production versus level of competition, keep in mind that players individual situation and mental makeup, and then determine whether they have the physical ability to do it in the NFL and to what degree.
This is where the combine comes in. Putting actual numbers to a players physical size and ability. I want to know how big Ndamukong Suh is. I want to know what Dez Bryants 40 yard splits are. And while I'm not huge on all the drills, anyone who has bench pressed before can tell you that whoever can push 225lbs the most isn't necessarily the strongest, but regardless I love seeing how the players react to the combine environment. Who really wants to show their future employers what they've got? I for one will be tuning in this week to find out.
The combine is where prospect opinions get educated...
yess butt alot of hate on the combine is that performance in some drills, which often have little to do with thier ability to perform on the field (eg bench press for OTs) without pads, are often so overvalued that they can tend to override years of on feild performance and cause players to shoot up draft board unwarrented (see DHB and Jamarcus russel and matt jones)
ReplyDeleteI definitely don't rank the combine over production or tape in regards to prospect analysis, but I do find after watching the combine that tape and college production mean more to me, because I am more certain at what exactly I am looking at.
ReplyDeleteFor example Beanie Wells passed Knowshon on my RB board after his combine performance last year. While Knowshon had the bigger workload as a rookie, I am very confident that Beanie will emerge as the better player (I still like Knowshon, just think Beanie has a chance at being more of an impact player) after the glimpses he showed late in the year.
I knew from tape that both guys were good players with skills, but it was at the combine that Beanie proved he had the superior burst, size and power that sold me...