NFL Combine 2011: It's Time to Make Some Changes

Every February, some of the best athletes in the world convene in Indianapolis to demonstrate their strength, speed and agility.

The NFL Combine, held for the benefit of scouts, runs a series of physical and mental tests in order to better understand college prospects' professional potential. The idea behind the Combine is that talent evaluators be able to judge players using quantifiable standardized tests.

NFL teams invest millions of dollars in the players they draft every year. It’s crucial that they do their due diligence and know exactly what kind of athlete and person they're bringing into the organization.

A running back or wide receiver may have been tearing it up in Conference USA, but how fast is he compared to players in the SEC?

The goal of the Combine is to answer those questions and provide a stronger basis for evaluating a player’s potential at the next level.

The 40-yard dash shows how fast a player can run in a straight line.

The three-cone drill shows how fast a player can run while changing directions.

The vertical jump lets teams know how explosive a player is.

The bench press is a great test of upper body strength, but having every player bench the same weight (225 pounds) makes no sense.

For a 200-pound running back, benching 112.5 percent of his body weight as many times he can is a good test of strength. For a 320-pound lineman, benching significantly less than his body weight as many times as he can is a test of muscular endurance.

The first question NFL scouts need to ask themselves is, "What do we want to learn about an athlete when he lies down on that bench?" The next question: "Does that vary from position to position and body type to body type?"

I suspect that the answer to the first is "Strength," and the answer to the second is "Yes."

If that's the case, then the Combine needs to rethink the way they test upper body strength.

They probably want to stick with the bench press. It’s a popular exercise, so they can assume players are familiar with it. It’s also not an overly technical exercise, which minimizes the “coaching up” effect. The bench press tests multiple muscle groups and the pushing movement is relevant to the game of football.

What the Combine does need to change is the weight. The easiest solution is to have players lift different weights based on what position they play. For example, scouts could divide the positions into three different groups:

Group One (Tailbacks, Quarterbacks, Wide Receivers and Cornerbacks): 275 pounds

Group Two (Safeties, Tight Ends, Linebackers and Fullbacks): 315 pounds

Group Three (Linemen): 315 pounds

This would be a better test of strength.

Testing an athlete’s one repetition maximum would be ideal as it would indicate what their maximum strength is. However, this would take too much time as dozens of players have to be evaluated in multiple exercises and drills. The Combine is long enough as it is.

The proto-typical linebacker in the NFL is approximately 250 pounds. Having him bench 65 pounds over his body weight is going to give you a much better indication of his strength. And it would be just as easy and standardized as the current system.

Every year, the athletes in the NFL get bigger, stronger and faster. But when was the last time scouts readjusted the way they evaluate the athletes?

For all the money involved and scrutiny placed on these young men, why is the NFL Combine so complacent when it comes to the bench press?