Combine 2020 The NFL Domination Continues

The NFL Combine is a genius move by the NFL.  It creates all kinds of interest tension and debate. It is pretty amazing that the NFL is able to get so much attention  heaped on players going through a bunch of crazy drills.  The combine came into existence in 1982 when Tex Schramm Owner of the Cowboys from 1960 to 1989 thought it would benefit teams if they had a centralized location to scout and evaluate talent.  From 1982 – 1984 there were several camps that were held in Tampa, New Orleans  and Arizona.  In 1985 all of the camps were consolidated in to one event and moved to Indianapolis and renamed to the NFL Scouting Combine.  It has been held in Indianapolis every February since then.

In the past 35 years the NFL Scouting Combine has become a beast of its own.  It is part of the NFL plan to have something NFL Football related in every month of the year.  The thinking being that if you are out of the news cycle for too long that interest will naturally begin to fade.  The NFL powers are not wrong in that idea and have played it to perfection.  The combine was closed to tv cameras before 2003.  The event that happened in 2003 to change that was the launch of the NFL Network.  In 2004 the NFL network did a series of special on the combine to show the drills and what players had the best stats.  In the time going forward more of the event has been shown on the NFL Network and on ESPN.  In 2019 the Quarterback and Wide Receiver drills were shown in a two hour special on ABC.  Of course ABC and ESPN are both owned by Disney.  Love Disney or hate them you have to admit that they are marketing magic.

The Drills are Important—Right

I always though that the drills really did not show a lot about the skill level of the athletes invited.  The drills really show more about a certain skill level rather than what it actually means a player will be able to do in a game.  It is not uncommon for someone to come into the combine with a certain idea about where they will go in the draft.  Only for that player to way out perform in a certain drill.

All of a sudden the stock of that player is soaring and they are climbing up the draft board.  All because they had a great stat in a certain drill.  Of course the opposite is also true.  There can be a player that is projected to go high.  Under performs in a drill and their stock drops like a rock.  All because they had a slow time in the three cone drill.  Last I checked the three cone drill never shows up in a game. I could be wrong but I have never seen it.

It seems to work though as far as entertainment goes.  I am not sure of the numbers on many of the drills and how they actually translate to doing well on Sundays in the fall.  I do see teams getting blinded by the light and making changes base on the results.  There are probably pretty close to the same number of good and bad picks.  Sometimes it may be due to something that just can not be seen in person or on paper.

Effectiveness of evaluation

A lot of teams differ on how valuable the combine is.  At least to the different people on the staff.  I guess it would really depend on how you run your draft.  What staff members are responsible for evaluating the players.  It seems in the past a lot of teams have sent a large number of people to the combine to evaluate the players.  This year there are several teams that are not going to send their position coaches.  They are only going to send their scouting staff.  The reason being that they have determined that the position coaches would be better served by watching film and then working on getting plans ready for the upcoming season.  This actually makes sense to me since that is what their job is.  The job of scouts is to evaluate talent.  Which is exactly what the combine is for.  I could see this changing for a lot of teams when they decide what staff to send to the combine.

Future of the Combine

Personally I really like having the combine in Indianapolis.  it is a nice central location with relatively easy access for just about everyone.  it is a nice boost for Indianapolis and people associate the combine with the city.  I have heard some talk that once the stadium and facilities are completed for the Rams and Chargers in LA that the NFL has plans to move the combine to Los Angeles.  I really hope that is not the case.  Why change something that is not broken.  Of course I should know the answer to that question.  The NFL is not above making a change on something that is working just fine.

The combine is very interesting.  It is something that no other league has been able to fully duplicate.  The NBA comes the closest but their combine does not get nearly the attention the NFL combine gets.  What do you thing?  Let us know in the comments.

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