The NFL Combine is finally approaching. Scouts, coaches, GMs and other decision-makers gathered at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis to select top players in hopes of being one of the more than 250 players selected in the 2024 NFL Draft. I watched as the students underwent examinations, medical checks, and interviews. .
But more coaches are skipping the combine because they have better tracking data. Los Angeles Rams Head coach Sean McVay Get real-time numbers on your leads using GPS tracking Instead of relying on your 40-yard dash time, in a game or football situation. This is how 2021 Super Bowl MVP Cooper Kupp lost to Los Angeles on the second day of the draft, and we know how it happened.
Despite the overall discomfort with the NFL Combine and what prospects are actually supposed to do, here are some good points that can be gleaned from all the fat that comes with being a week-long scheduled TV show. there is. There are certain themes that come out of the workouts that the players do at the combine that are really discussed as being good and we get numbers to back up what we see on film. It’s important to remember this point. Combine tests and athletic tests are used to help validate what you saw on tape or force you to go back and re-evaluate what you saw based on testing.
Here’s how to watch at home and get a smarter idea of what you’re watching on Combine.
40 yard dash
Why is it important?
This is the combine version of the dunk contest that used to be held on All-Star Saturday Night. This is something everyone is excited about, and most prospects will either win or lose their draft stock. There was a 40-yard difference between the two, making it a huge signing at the highest level of the sport. No pressure, right?
40s can be a good test of true long-distance speed, but it’s very possible that most prospects are running straight through sterile territory with no one following them. low. This is why McVay and the Rams insisted on using his GPS tracking, which is a better tool for tracking player speed in real game situations. What the 40-yard dash is for, and the numbers you can glean from it, apply to the 10-yard and 20-yard splits.
Football is a game of explosions and explosions, with players exerting maximum force and energy for perhaps five to seven seconds. The first is how fast he can go from 0 to 60 yards for 10 to 20 yards, something scouts can use to determine explosiveness and burst, and passing for his catchers and defense for his linemen. It is important. His ability to get upfield and create separation in the first 10-20 yards is more important than any of his 40-yard numbers. How often does a defensive lineman run 40 yards in a straight line?
why it doesn’t matter
Again, the odds of a player running 40 yards in a straight line on a down-bydown in the NFL are very low. Of course, there are receivers who can use that to justify their deep speed, but not every player needs to use 40 hours as their end all in their evaluation. If the game speed is fast on tape, it’s probably fast in real life. Just ask Cooper Kupp or Puka Nacua.
bench press
Why is it important?
Hmm…well…isn’t it really cool to see strong people do strong people things? Seriously, this is a good indicator of upper body strength.
why it doesn’t matter
The bench press exercise is very effective for developing chest and triceps muscles, but does not take into account arm length. The longer your arms, the more distance you can push your weight up and down. 2022, now――denver broncos Head coach Sean Payton summed it up perfectly:
It’s a victory for length. First important contact. Bench press winner = short arms.
— Sean Payton (@SeanPayton) March 5, 2022
Stacking and shedding behavior is important for defensive linemen, but capturing it more accurately outside of the bench press needs to be on the table for combine scouts. My suggestion is to use a power clean. In a power clean, most of the power and movement comes from the hips. This is similar to what is used in most college strength programs and is similar to the movements seen on a snap-to-snap basis. It’s not that the bench press is bad, but it’s not a very good measure of overall soccer strength.
Additionally, you rarely see the best bench press testers have long careers. Dawgs by Nature I wrote a great article about why the bench press isn’t necessarily the best indicator of success, even though very few players stay in the league that long. It’s pretty cool to see, but it doesn’t guarantee NFL success.
vertical jump
Why is it important?
Vertical jumps are one of the best ways to determine explosive lower body strength. The ability to generate force to rise as high as possible off the ground in a short period of time is extremely important for sports based on explosive movements. Consider a wide receiver like Ja’Marr Chase. At his pro day, he jumped 41 inches despite being 6-foot-0. You can see that explosion after the catch and when he goes up and receives the ball despite being a smaller receiver.
cleveland browns TE David Njoku jumped 37.5 inches, putting him in the 90th percentile among all tight ends. The explosion you see after the catch and the moment he crosses the catch point can be seen on film and at his NFL Combine.
why it doesn’t matter
Vertical jumps are useful, but they’re not the be-all and end-all when it comes to testing explosive strength. That’s because vertical jumps only test his explosive power in one plane: vertically.according to Research conducted in 2007 Written by Akinori Nagano, Taku Komura, and Nobuji Fukashiro Vertical jumps activate the quadriceps, glutes, hamstrings, and calves, but the muscles in the hip joint, such as the hamstrings and glutes, are uniform; Jumping out along the horizontal plane is also necessary to judge instantaneous force. You will be more activated if you use your hips to lift your body up in a horizontal plane. This is very similar to the next exercise test we’re going to discuss.
broad jump
Why is it important?
Shakira wasn’t wrong when she said, “Your hips don’t lie.” The hips and hips are the connection between the upper and lower body, and being able to sink your hips and develop explosive power is evident in many aspects of soccer play. Consider the appropriate tackle. The hips create the intense force that propels the body forward to make a tackle. One of the best tacklers in his current NFL game is his LB Quincy Williams of the Jets, whose 10:04 broad jump gave him a relative athletic score of 9.27 out of 10, and his LB It’s a very good spot. The hips are key to maximizing athletic performance in the NFL game, and the long jump helps test that.
why it doesn’t matter
Same as vertical jump, but this is only tested in one plane, so you can’t build an entire scout base with this one jump.
three cone drill
Why is it important?
Turn around, baby! Because of the way the drill is set up, this tests a prospect’s ability to sink and change direction in a short period of time. How they rotate around the cone without slowing down is a good indicator of their ability to turn and change direction at the NFL level. This is where most offensive linemen start to shine, and their control in space and ability to change direction without losing movement is tested here.
why it doesn’t matter
good … seahawks WR DK Metcalf seems to have the answer. His 3-cone at the 2019 NFL Combine was absolutely terrifying for a wide receiver. His time of 7.38 is in the third percentile of all receivers ever tested at the combine, which is a historically bad number. But that poor three-cone doesn’t prevent him from being a good receiver in his NFL, especially running fast vertically and jumping very high.
Here scouting must meet the background of this player’s behavior. Fresh out of college, Metcalf wasn’t a separator-type receiver who ran routes, but was more of a guy who would go up and steal the ball or outrun a database player. The Seahawks needed that, so they never had him try to be anything else that didn’t fit his athletic ability. This is the way rubber should be evaluated. Sure, this guy might not be good at this aspect of the game, but if he fills a specific need, he’s worth picking on your team.
20 yard shuttle
Why is it important?
Again, change direction within a given space. The way the drill is set up is that players start in the middle, run 5 yards to the side, touch the line at 5 yards, run 10 yards to the opposite cone, touch the line, and finish. . This is a really great test for offensive linemen. This measures agility, body control, and change of direction. These are all important in many zone running schemes up front. Underdog Fantasy’s Josh Norris outlined the importance of his 20-yard shuttle and the trends he sees in offensive linemen in the draft.
Being able to move through space is important, and short shuttles are a great way to measure that.
why it doesn’t matter
Again, it depends on the type of players you want in the room. Even if a player isn’t all that great at lateral movement, that doesn’t mean they’ll be a bad player throughout their career. I already outlined Metcalf, but Jadeveon Clowney’s short shuttle time wasn’t the best. His 4.43 was only in the 44th percentile, and in the bottom half of all EDGEs to date at the combine. Still, he’s carved out a role in the NFL as a good linear athlete and a player who moves well in the vertical plane, which is important for NFL teams. It depends on the type of player your team needs.
Overall, the NFL’s draft bonding drill is important, but it should not be treated as law. The combine is just a tool that can be used to get a better look and evaluation of a draft prospect and examine his movement skills and explosiveness that may or may not show up on tape. Every team has a baseline of athletic tests that they use to determine prospects and how they fit into the franchise’s long-term goals. You may not be great in other areas, but you may be great athletically, and that’s okay. They have the tools in their toolbox to make evaluations and understand how that translates to NFL games.
Now you know how to watch.
