The Combine Value

With the 2011 NFL Scouting Combine wrapping up its annual resume building event for aspiring professional players who are lucky enough to be invited, very few things have actually been answered. In fact, it can be argued that we now have more questions than we did a week ago in terms of how this year's crop of college football talent ranks.

Personally, I do not take too much stock in what happens at the combine. For one, it has had a history of allowing workout warriors to move up draft boards with impressive showings in the forty yard dash, the broad jump, and various positional drills that do not necessarily prove whether or not somebody is actually a good football player. Just as much, I do not believe one weekend in Indy running around on the turf at Lucas Oil Field should negate what a particular prospect may have done on the field over the last three or four years.

The most important aspect of the combine is what goes on behind the scenes, especially during the interviews. A player may be coached to reach peak performance as an athlete at the combine but they cannot hide their true inner-self for too long. Do not be fooled into thinking the broad jump is that important, it's more of whether or not a man looks the coaches and general managers in the eye when he shakes their hand and how he interacts with fellow competitors during group activities. Nobody really wants to draft an elite athlete who does not appear to get along with anybody or answer questions about his character truthfully. Teams want guys that are engaging leaders.

Many analysts, fans, and bloggers alike will get caught up in the measurables over the next couple months leading up to the draft but many NFL scouts will be hard at work trying to weigh the immeasurables. That is the true challenge of the job and it is something, that when done properly, will make the difference between selecting a potential all-pro or a bust.

As far as my mock draft goes, I will not consider updating it until right before the draft. At this point it is nothing more than a craps shoot to predict and there are just too many other things going on in the sports world to spend my time watching football players run drills. I would much rather turn my attention to the end of the NCAA College Hockey season, NCAA Basketball's March Madness, and the 2011 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, which starts this Saturday in Anchorage, AK. To get updates of that race go to my Iditablog at www.iditarodtrail2011.blogspot.com.

Happy Tails!