10 things being watched at the combine

[MightyGiants]

A pretty good article

http://football.realgm.com/analysis/2937/10-Things-Im-Watching-At-The-2017-NFL-Scouting-Combine

[the12th man]

Nothing that is done during this "Dog and Pony Show" means much when it comes to what a player can do for your team!

[MightyGiants]

Nothing that is done during this "Dog and Pony Show" means much when it comes to what a player can do for your team!

Yes and no

Obviously, you can't use the Combine as a way to stack players on your draft board.  The Combine is a tool and like many tools, there are other tools that need to be used as well in order to complete the job.

There are players who will see their draft value rise or fall based on the combine.  It could be a failed medical, a poor interview, a slow or fast 40 time, a measurement that isn't nearly as good as their college list, a QB hand size, and offensive lineman's arm length.    Outliers good or bad tend to push a guy's draft stock down (at least for some teams) and good outliers in events relevant to the position will cause teams to reevaluate or some times to push the prospect's draft value upward.

[Shoelessjoe]

Two big things to remember about the combine are the medical testing and the interviews.  In addition, if you have two players that are close or equal to each other in your evaluation the combine could be the place where they separate the two.  Your correct that you can't use the combine as the only thing to evaluate but it is the only place where you can test and evaluate 300 players at one short period of time.

[Jaime]

Dah Combine means different things to different teams. On the upside it provides teams with the ability to take a look at three hundred players in a few days. But specifically it allows them to get close and even speak to players that they may or may not have beeen interested in. But it does provide accurate measurements for grading criteria. It's all just more info for the evaluation process. Teams that rely too heavily on it, tend to get burnt. You still have the pro day, bringing the Prospect in for a workout xcetera.

[todge]

Yes and no

Obviously, you can't use the Combine as a way to stack players on your draft board.  The Combine is a tool and like many tools, there are other tools that need to be used as well in order to complete the job.

There are players who will see their draft value rise or fall based on the combine.  It could be a failed medical, a poor interview, a slow or fast 40 time, a measurement that isn't nearly as good as their college list, a QB hand size, and offensive lineman's arm length.    Outliers good or bad tend to push a guy's draft stock down (at least for some teams) and good outliers in events relevant to the position will cause teams to reevaluate or some times to push the prospect's draft value upward.

It is very fashionable right now to bash the Combine as a big nothing.  But as Rich and the article point out - it is a tool like many others.  Every team has scouts who assign player grades.  The grade on that player could go up or down depending on the performances at the Combine.