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It is hard to understand how the NFL could put on such a poor platform to evaluate players. In order to be able to use prime time, and make more money, the scheduling of workouts has caused many, if not most, of the athletes to pass up the drills that we want to judge by.

The UW players, for example, are apparently just there for measurement and interviews. If this keeps up, the combine will shrivel up in favor of the sessions at various venues around the country (which happen, anyway), and the NFL will be left with nothing.

Old but Slow wrote:It is hard to understand how the NFL could put on such a poor platform to evaluate players. In order to be able to use prime time, and make more money, the scheduling of workouts has caused many, if not most, of the athletes to pass up the drills that we want to judge by.

The UW players, for example, are apparently just there for measurement and interviews. If this keeps up, the combine will shrivel up in favor of the sessions at various venues around the country (which happen, anyway), and the NFL will be left with nothing.

Yes, I noticed how many players are passing up the combine in lieu of their individual college's pro day or not being full participants. The combine is becoming almost as big of a joke as the Pro Bowl. I don't think it's most players, but a lot of them aren't going through the entire rigamarole, enough to compromise the event.

The "events" are scheduled too close together or late in the evening for some players.
How can you expect someone to give their best performance when that evaluation is scheduled just a short time from another?
As well, 9 O'clock at night doesn't usually result in players feeling like they are going to be able to give their best effort, so why wouldn't they wait until their Pro day when it's
best for them? The money for them to possibly lose by a bad workout isn't worth taking a risk.

Its becoming less of a screening tool and more of a first chance for a team's GM and HC to talk to players of interest and their agents...to schedule future visits with our club.

That's true, tarlhawk, but as an event for measurement and interviews, it is not really worth televising.

Old but Slow wrote:That's true, tarlhawk, but as an event for measurement and interviews, it is not really worth televising.

The event is news, and part of the NFL's strategy of remaining relevant year round so as to maintain fan interest. It builds excitement ahead of the draft, as anyone that was around when we drafted Aaron Curry can attest to. You can't generate the same amount of excitement with 40 or 50 pro days scattered to all hell and gone.

The league needs to figure out a way to accommodate the player's concerns and still be able to put on a single, comprehensive event at a single location.

I think they are approaching the killing the golden goose stage with this.
If it means going back to the format it was a few years ago then so be it.
After all, only the real hard core fans are watching even if it's nice for families to take their kids if they have the time.

The NFL has to remember that the real reason for the Combine was to get every player evaluated on a level playing field and not to be a show for a wider audience.
That it's popular for some fans is a bonus, but it's more important that the knowledge base amongst teams is very similar so as to keep parity in the league.

It was never intended as a television event in the first place. It was always for the benefit of the clubs. Measurements and interviews (especially interviews) were always the primary function but with so many 24 hour sports channels now they are staved for live programming, so they get Rich Eisen to run in a suit and build a show around what my wife calls "the meat market". The value is still getting as many players as possible in one location so that the teams can see the actual height/weight/wingspan, jock size, whatever, and have a sit down with them. The primary evaluation tool is still, and always will be, game film (even though more and more teams are falling in love with players in their gym shorts).

I still like having it on though, like having guys catch my eye for my three deep. I'd be moderately bummed if they stopped televising it. But they wont.

If it's making money, it's doubtful they would remove it from TV.
As well it whets the tongues of many of us who are obsessed or at least very interested in football and how players could help our team.
And don't forget the gamblers who generate money on measurables and keeps them in the fold of keeping the NFL on their minds even in
the off season.

The intent of the combine when it first started out may have been designed for the club's benefit, but if it was, it's changed in character to an event that is now designed to keep the league in the news, especially during the traditionally slow time of the sports year that occurs in the late winter/early spring. That's one of the reasons why they hold it now vs. closer to the draft, so they don't have to compete with things like March Madness, the NBA and NHL playoffs, and the opening of the baseball season.

The NFL has been masters at timing their events so as to take advantage of as much exposure as they can. That's why draft always starts on a Thursday as it's a travel day for most MLB/NBA/NHL teams. Even something as dull and flavorless as the schedule release has been hyped into a major event.

But making it boring or cause some of the better players to skip it doesn't further their cause.

An example of the poor design is that each position group does the bench press on the same day, and before the on-field drills. To put that kind of stress on the body and then not to expect to be sore and tired is naive. As a result, the event was largely skipped, which in the case of lineman takes away an applicable factor. The press should be on a separate day.

NorthHawk wrote:But making it boring or cause some of the better players to skip it doesn't further their cause.

Oh, I agree that they're not doing themselves any favors by making it so inconvenient to the players that a number of them are skipping it. My point was about their intent, that the league sees the combine more as a dog and pony show and less as an opportunity for teams to evaluate prospects.

The owners are all about money so it fits with their actions, but if players increasingly pass
the Combine or parts of it, the money won’t be realized-or at least not maximized.
It would also mean more expenses for teams traveling around the country to go to their
Pro Days. They do it now for some players but if they end up doing it for most, the costs
will increase.

Damn. Tebow did 30 bench reps of 225 at age 34. Dude has crazy physical genetics. Set a record for QBs ever. Probably would have been stronger at his original combine.