The NFL combine is the second most popular event of the NFL offseason after the draft and if you so choose, you can watch all of the events from the 40-yard-dash, to the bench press, to the vertical jump, to the three-cone unfold on the NFL network.
Why you would do that is an entirely different question. The combine may be a big day for a select group NFL scouts and coaches who think they can spot something in a player’s workout that might help them select the next pro bowler or avoid the next bust, but for everyone else, watching it would appear to be an insane waste of time. As the latest Uproxx Video points out, the combine is more often than not, extremely useless.
There is much evidence to back this up, such as the fact that only one of 10 players with the fastest 40-yard-dashes have ever made a pro bowl, or that the strongest man ever to take on the bench press never even got drafted. Heck, even Bill Belichick has spoken out against it.
Then there is the interview part of the combine, which thanks to former NFL player Austen Lane, we now know asks the most insane questions imaginable that have absolutely no bearing on how talented a player is on the football field. Still, how players perform in these seemingly unrelated drills and interview sessions undoubtedly have an effect on where they will be drafted come April.
I’m not saying the combine is the biggest reason a player like Tom Brady could slip to the sixth round while JaMarus Russell got picked first overall, but I’m not not saying that either.
