The NFL Scouting Meat Market

I wanted to add something to Nate's post from yesterday on why the NFL combine is useless. Althought it is a similar point to the one that he made, it differs slightly.

In the NFL scouting combine, players run all kinds of drills and tests. They get a physical done, and that is all well and good, especially since I can see why teams would want to know some of that information. I can even see why giving prospective players physicals would be key.

The combine does not directly apply to football, though. If football was played by performing a series of drills better than the other team, then I could see why it would be useful.

But that is not how it works.

Football teams play football. These men who are taking these tests are doing so because they have been playing football at the highest level for years, and want to show that they are good enough to do it professionally.

But didn't they already prove that by playing football?

Michael Crabtree has a foot injury that is going to keep him out of the rest of the combine. According to ESPN, that is going to make his draft "stock" fall.

Why? Have they never seen him play football?

Missing an opportunity to draft an extremely good wide receiver because you don't know how fast he can run 40-yards seems colossally stupid to me.

Players should be able to prove their skill and worth through playing football. They should not have to have a certain vertical jump measurement in order to be considered draft material.

I have seen Crabtree do amazing things, and though I can see the injury as being a legitimate worry, I just don't see why his vertical jump should be more important than this.