Preparing for the NFL Draft: Part One of Three

For seniors it is a no-brainer. If you want to keep playing football, and you feel that your body can take it, you go. For underclassmen it becomes a guessing game.

A classic example from last year was Colt Brennan, QB, Hawaii. After his junior year, he was up for the Heisman and had broke all sorts of records and everyone thought he was the greatest thing since sliced bread.

He knew he would probably go third in the draft behind Quinn and Russell. But he looked at the QB field that would be returning and felt that he could raise his draft status the following year and go first or second and get bigger money.

He got hurt, his backup stepped in, and Hawaii didn’t miss a beat. Everyone decided he was a system guy and he ended up drafted in like the fifth round. That was a multi-million dollar mistake.

So what guys need to look at is when will the best opportunity to go be? When I have talked to NFL guys they all tell you that first and second rounders may be busts but they will hang around the league simply because of their draft status. Teams will assume that someone once saw greatness in them, so it must be there.

This year the tables are turning. To understand this whole Draft Cap Salary thing, read this article.

Basically guys who have never played a down in the NFL are making more than four time Pro-Bowlers. A trusted NFL source (Higher up than a player) has told me that it will happen after this year’s draft. So for those who want one last swipe at the big bucks, it’s now or never.

Selecting an Agent

Once you have decided to prepare for the NFL the first thing you need to do is select an agent. An agent is your in with the NFL coaches and scouts and really the only way that you can get your name out there. For the most, part agents will contact you to show their interest in representing you.

Then you have to decide who is the best fit and that can be tricky. Agents tend to build a reputation for representing certain position groups, so you want to make sure that your agent knows how to “sell” your position. You also want to be careful about picking an agent who you know represents people that have “more hype” and will thus take away from time they would spend on you.

Finally the biggest thing for me when looking at an agent was that I wanted to pick someone that would represent me the way I would represent myself. These guys talk to coaches and scouts and I wanted someone who matched my personality, politeness, honesty, etc, so that when my agent talked with someone they would have a good view of me in their mind.

Training

Right after the Bowl Game, those who are serious about moving on head straight to a training facility and begin working out in preparation for the “Combine” or “Pro Timing Day.” There are places all over CA, AZ, and FL and there are also guys who choose to just stay at their school and train with their strength and conditioning coach.

A lot of guys go to API in Phoenix or LA. It is the Ivan Drago Facility (Rocky IV). I went to Make Plays in Phoenix, which has more of a Rocky approach; nothing fancy, just rusty old weights.

John Beck introduced me to the guys there my junior year and I fell in love with the place. No matter where you go, the regiment is basically the same. In the morning you run and work on three-cone drills, the 40, short shuttle, etc. Then you have a lunch break and come back later for lifting.

The lower body lifts are for your speed, the upper body lifts are for your Pro Bench (225 rep max) and then there is a lot of body building type stuff, because let’s face it, the draft is a meat market.

The training from January to April was probably one of the highlights of the experience. You get to be around a new group of guys, most of them were guys I played against, and so you get to interact on a different level and build new friendships.

Another major factor in the training is your diet. I had every meal planned out for me and every gram of protein, every gram of sugar, every calorie, and every ounce of fat was documented and tracked. It was a pretty intense process, but I felt great!

By Markell Staffieri