NFL Insider: Just What Does the NFL Scouting Combine Really Mean?

If you don’t already know, the 2011 NFL Scouting Combine is finally upon us, and there will be a lot of fans tuning in to see how these potential NFL recruits look as they head into the 2011 NFL Draft.

Both, the draft and the scouting combine, have become two of the most popular events of the NFL offseason (perhaps they are the most popular events of the offseason), and people love seeing how their team is going to develop over the course of the offseason.

You may hear some people say that the scouting combine is starting to mean less each and every year. Doesn’t on-the-field play mean much more than what you see in a 40-yard dash, a bench press or a short shuttle? Shouldn't NFL scouts at the combine be much more worried about that than measuring someone at the combine?

Is the combine losing its significance? Should there even be a scouting combine?

Let’s find out why the combine is important to both the players and the teams involved and discover that it is indeed something very worthwhile for the NFL.

First, the combine gives each and every NFL team a chance to meet with players and learn more about them up close and personal. There is the interview process that gives teams a chance to meet face-to-face with players and see how they react to a certain line of questioning.

Granted, these players have been coached for the interviews that they will undergo, but NFL scouts, coaches and general managers can at least have some face time with these guys and get to know them on a personal level.

The combine also provides NFL scouts and front office people a chance to get a closer look at the physical makeup of the players participating in the combine, allowing them to look at their measureables.

These measurables include their height, weight and other things that are important to NFL scouts and coaches. They will pay very close attention to these numbers and use them as part of their evaluation of those players that they are interested in.

The Wonderlic test is also administered to each of the combine participants. It’s a test that measures their intelligence by giving them a certain amount of time to complete a number of questions.

This test is used to see how well and how quickly players can absorb information and come up with the correct answers in a hurry. This is something that players have to do during a normal NFL football game.

The bench press is a show of strength for all players, but isn’t a good statistic for certain positions. Defensive backs and wide receivers do this, but it’s not necessary for them. It is a good indicator of strength in the upper body and gives linemen (both offensive and defensive) something to hang their hat on in the eyes of scouts.

There are other drills that are specific to different positions that give scouts and head coaches some idea as to how the players perform.

Quarterbacks throw passes, wide receivers catch them, offensive linemen do kick slide drills and defensive linemen do the cone drills. All of these drills are put together to give scouts, general managers and coaches a chance to better evaluate players and try to determine if they have an interest in drafting them.

If there is indeed an interest, then those scouts can go ahead and take a look at these players further. If they feel that there is no interest, then they can go ahead and drop the person off their board or move them down.

This way they can save time and money evaluating prospects and pay more attention to those prospects that they have a greater interest in.

There are several people out there that feel that the scouting combine no longer has any value and that the only way to evaluate a player is by watching him on tape.

Granted, watching a player on tape is a good way to get to know more about that player, but if you want the up close and personal interaction along with medical evaluations, interviews and some basic drills, then the combine is the best way to go for NFL scouts, coaches and general managers.

Do you think that the combine still has relevance? Is there another way the NFL should be doing its college player evaluations?