The-Hogs.net - Washington Football Discussion, Redskins to Commanders Era

• Who will be in Indy?
There are 330 draft-eligible college players who received invitations to the NFL Scouting Combine, which begins Wednesday. The players were selected by a committee comprised of members of the Blesto and National scouting services, as well as player personnel departments from independent teams.

• Not working
Every invitee is expected to attend, but not everyone will strut his stuff in the positional workouts or the timing and strength drills. Among the players who reportedly will wait until their college's Pro Day to perform for NFL scouts are quarterbacks Matt Leinart of USC and Vince Young of Texas.

• Made for TV
The coverage-conscious NFL has turned the annual combine into a huge media event. In 2001, approximately 100 members of the media covered the combine. This week, credentials have been issued to more than 250, including media from 24 states and Mexico. The workouts are closed to the media and public. NFL Network will televise 26 hours of news conferences, interviews and player drills.

• Heavy representationUSC has the most invitees, with 14, followed by Ohio State (12) and Miami, Fla. (11). Virginia Tech and Florida State each have nine players at the combine.

What players will face at the NFL Scouting Combine

• Day 1: Check in at the Crowne Plaza hotel, take a shuttle to Methodist Hospital for pre-exam X-rays and lab work. Return to the hotel and proceed to the Cybex testing area, where they face an iso-kinetic test to determine muscular strength, power and endurance. Individual team interviews are scheduled 8 p.m.-11 p.m.

• Day 2: Medical examinations begin, including precise documentation of height, weight, arm length and hand span. Next comes the Wonderlic test, a 50-question test that must be completed in 12 minutes, and the bench press, during which players are asked to perform as many repetitions as possible with a 225-pound weight. Individual team interviews are scheduled 7 p.m.-11 p.m.

• Day 3: The day revolves around psychological testing. It begins with an 8 a.m. meeting with the NFL Players Association and moves to various psychological tests from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Individual team interviews are scheduled 6 p.m.-9 p.m.

• Day 4: Finally, workout day. Players begin with warm-up and flexibility drills. Then, they're timed at 10-, 20- and 40-yard intervals. Next are position-specific skill drills. Players then move to the vertical jump and broad jump before finishing their day with the 20- and 60-yard shuttles and three-cone drill.

I tuned into the combine last year because I was all Combined Hyped up, but then I realized it was stupid.

The only good part is watching the players lift weights while having the Clevand Browns dude say "Boo Ya!" 500 times.

But its something to fill the void between the SB and free agency in March ... but its not my idea of stimulating TV ... and only since I don't get NFL Network, I'll pass.

i watched it last year,pretty boring stuff if i say so myself.

This is a look behind what the NFL Network puts out there.
I watch the 40 times and the Indiv. drills of the OL.(if I happen to catch it).

MORE INFO:
by Rick Spielman

The scouting combine is the biggest and most important event of the year for NFL personnel departments.

All year, college scouts have traveled the country evaluating players for the upcoming draft. Scouts have watched countless hours of film, evaluated practices, watched players in games and collected as much background information as possible. They also have been able to evaluate and interview some players during all-star games, but the combine brings all of the top collegiate players, including juniors who have entered the draft, to one specific location to be looked over by the actual decision makers from each organization.

NFL teams will take different approaches and have different philosophies about what they deem important and what portions of the combine they will focus on the most. It is very important for a team's general manager to establish a game plan for what the organization must achieve at the combine. He must organize more than 40 staff members -- scouts, assistant coaches and even the medical staff.

When I was with the Miami Dolphins, we would hold a specific combine meeting with everyone who would be attending to go over each player on our board and identify specific things we needed to find out about them. For example, a player might have a medical issue that we want our doctors to investigate. There could be a football learning issue that a coach must address in an interview to determine if the player will be able to learn our system. Or we might need to watch a specific player for a specific skill during the positions drills. If a running back had limited production catching the ball out of the backfield during his collegiate career, for example, we might focus on his receiving ability during that specific part of the positional workout. The combine is too important a venue not to get answers to the necessary questions.

There are many different phases to the combine. Players get put to the test not only physically, but also mentally. There are some aspects that are more important than others. Here are the areas I felt were most important at the combine:


Medical evaluation
This might be most important. Doctors and trainers from every team have the opportunity to perform a thorough medical exam on each player. Because the NFL allows teams to bring only 20 non-local players to visit their facility before the draft, this will be the only opportunity your medical staff has to complete a full physical examination on some players. These physicals include orthopedic and internal exams, as well as a drug test.
Of all the tests and evaluations performed at the combine, this one might have the biggest influence on whether a team will draft a player, regardless of how he grades out as a football player. Teams will take players off their draft board if the doctors decide it is not worth the medical risk to draft the player. This is a subjective decision by the medical staff, and different teams can have different opinions on how much of a risk a player is.

Players sometimes will try to hide ailments by providing inaccurate information on medical history forms. One year the Dolphins drafted a player in the later rounds who had failed to divulge a significant injury he had sustained in college. This particular college did not release medical histories on its players, and since the injury had not been surgically repaired, there was no scar to indicate any type of injury. We drafted him, in large part, based on his assurances that he was healthy, when in fact he was not. We eventually filed a grievance to recoup the signing bonus we paid him.

Doctors also might discover ailments the players did not know they had, such as heart conditions, narrowing of the spine or blood disorders. One player a few years ago discovered he had a four-inch sewing needle lodged in his foot. He could not remember when it had happened.

When you're about to invest a draft pick and signing bonus money in a player, it is vital that you determine the medical risks he brings with him.


Height, weight and body description
The height and weight part of this is pretty standard and self-explanatory, but some people might wonder what scouts possibly can evaluate when a player stands alone on a stage in just his shorts. This is where scouts and coaches write out body descriptions.
Body descriptions explain whether a player might be able to add weight to his frame or whether he is maxed out at his current weight. You can see if his upper body is in proportion with his lower body. An offensive lineman with a large upper body and skinny lower body probably will struggle to anchor in pass protection against explosive defensive ends. You also can see scars or other previously unnoticed body deformities that might raise a red flag. Some teams will go as far as identifying tattoos that could be gang related.



Interview process
The combine will be the first time most head coaches and decision makers have a chance to interview a player one on one. Teams are allowed to interview a maximum of 60 players in 15-minute sessions over the course of the combine. With the limited number of interviews at the combine, we always felt it was important to try to interview players at all-star games in January. If we were satisfied with those interviews, we moved on. This allowed us to log interviews with a lot more players.
The combine player interview can cover a wide variety issues, with questions ranging from family background to off-field and legal issues to football-related questions. The GM and head coach will go into the interview with extensive background information on the player, and they'll often ask questions to which they already know the answer just to see how honest and forthright the player is going to be. Some players will acknowledge positive drug tests, while others will deny them even though the confirmation is in the folder in front of you. I even had a player tell me he had never been arrested. He didn't know I had a police photo of him being booked into the county jail. Most agents do an outstanding job of preparing their clients for these interviews. It is up to the clubs to dig deep and determine what is real and what is rehearsed to get a true picture of the player's character.



40-yard dash:
This has to be the most controversial drill at the combine, because so much emphasis is placed on speed, especially at the skill positions. A lot of athletes elect not to run at the combine, offering excuses or explanations ranging from pulled muscles to an agent's advice to a lack of training time. My favorite was, "I flew in from the West Coast." I always told the "West Coast excuse makers" that we would make sure to deactivate them if the team had to make a cross-country trip, since it apparently had such an effect on their ability to perform. Some players will tell you during their interview the night before that they plan to run, then conveniently pull up lame when the lights come on the next day.
It always has been a huge pet peeve of mine when players elect not to run at the combine. I can understand if a player has a legitimate injury or is rehabbing after offseason surgery, but in my mind there is no excuse. These players have a chance to perform in front of every decision maker in the NFL but decline. They have had plenty of time to train and prepare. Fast guys always will be fast and slow guys always will be slow. Agents spend thousands of dollars training their clients for these workouts. There should be no excuses for a player to avoid running if he is healthy.

I could list countless examples of players putting off running until their pro day and pulling a hamstring and not being able to finish the workout. Usually if players don't have anything to hide, they don't mind running. Deion Sanders lined up and ran the fastest time ever posted at the combine. Last year we drafted Ronnie Brown with the second overall pick. He had elected to run at the combine, and he ran fast and did not have to run again the rest of the spring. That spoke very highly of not only his character but his competitiveness as well.

These are only a few of the many aspects of the combine. Players also take the Wonderlic Test and other psychological tests, as well as other physical tests and the specific position drills. The combine is a huge venue with many important aspects. If a GM is organized and has a game plan, he should be able to get all of his questions answered.