Today starts the NFL Combine, where NFL hopefuls will be running 40 yard dashes, benchpressing, and taking the wonderlic test among other things. The question I have is, why do people outside of NFL front offices make such a big deal about this? And for that matter why does the NFL make a big deal out of this? The NFL Network is dedicated a ton of hours to this event and I just don't get it. How much can a front office person or scout really get from watching a guy run 40 yards or lift a lot weight? Shouldn't they have all they need to know from the game film they have on players that span 3-4 years? The game film on a guy is going to tell me whether or not he can play football. Sure speed and strength and explosiveness are large factors to be successful in the NFL, but I'd rather judge someone's speed, strength, and explosiveness on a field when they are in a game situation. Just because a Darius Heyward-Bey can run straight down a field in 4.3 seconds doesn't mean that he can elude defenders or run a clean route.
I understand we live in a country where the NFL is covered 24-7 and we're in a month where there aren't many choices for sports fans, but come on, the coverage the combine gets is worse than National Signing Day when the country obsesses on the choices of 18 year old boys. The reality is that there aren't very many rookies that have an immediate impact in their first year in the NFL and a lot of times the the star players are found late in the draft. I think the combine is a useful tool for scouts and general managers but to obsess over it like ESPN, the NFL Network and the media in general do is ridiculous and it's time we let the NFL go about it's scouting combine and not fuss over it. I don't really care that Vince Young scored so poorly on the wonderlic test, I just want to know if he can be a game-changer who can win football games. And really isn't that what it comes down to, finding players that can win football games?
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