[30gut]

Originally Posted by metalskins

Honestly, do you guys think the combine is really worth it?

Yes. But you have to realize the combine isn't designed for the layman. The on the field stuff is net-net probably the least important of all the events that occur at the combine. #1 is the medical testing and #2 (or really 1a) is the personal contact/team meetings.

The combine events are merely a cross check/tie breaker because it allows the player to be compared against each other and provide data that can be used to compare against historical archives.

Now if you are a draftnik/wannabe amateur scout (like myself) you can use the combine numbers to separate players that have similar grades from watching tape. For example a couple of years back I graded Deone Buchannon and James Ward much higher then other draftniks. But after their combines I was certain that they were 1st round prospect because they combine numbers comparable to previous 1st rounders which confirmed what I saw on film.

Personally I love the combine and find it very useful.

I've watched it in the past, but I don't think it's really going to give you any better insight as to who's going to make it in the NFL and who isn't.

The combine is not designed to help you figure out who's going to make it in the NFL. On the whole I consider the concept or belief in draft predictionto be a myth. The draft process is about proper evaluation, assessment and ranking/grading. Imo that's the best a FO/organization can expect during the draft process. Whether a prospect fails or succeed has many factors completely external to the tangible evaluation process that imo it renders prediction impossible. You can have 2 prospect with identical college production and combine performance. But you still have no idea how the prospects will respond to making/having serious money and being in a new city on their own without the pretense of having to attend class. Then there are factors external to the prospect like whether or not their personality meshes with their coaches/GM, whether or not they are a scheme fit or their coaches know how to adapt to their skills, whether or not the staff/GM are fired and the player doesn't fit the new scheme, whether the player tries cocaine or weed for the 1st time and becomes an addict etc.....