The Combine's Here, Bitch!

[Direckshun]

http://www.arrowheadpride.com/2014/2...-list-workouts

2014 NFL Combine schedule: TV channel, online streaming, invite list, workouts and more
By Matt Conner
on Feb 20 2014, 10:12a

he road to the NFL Draft is longer in 2014 than any other offseason given the league's decision to push it back a few weeks to May 8-10. For the next three months, draftniks will circle around prospects like hawks, analyzing their every move and weighing the pros and cons of each player.

The process starts en masse this week with the start of the 2014 NFL Combine in Indianapolis. If you love the Draft, then this is a big week for you.

For those who are new to the NFL Combine, it's a seven-day event broken up into four-day shifts for each position group (quarterbacks to punters). Each group comes to Indy for four days to meet with representatives from each NFL team for medical assessments, interviews and a number of workouts. It's termed the Underwear Olympics for that reason, as teams fall in and out of love with prospects based on 40-yard dash times and vertical leaps.

The quick guide to the Combine

• NFL Network will televise; NFL.com will stream
• Andy Reid (Thursday, 2:15 p.m.) and John Dorsey (Friday, 12:15 p.m.) will speak to the media (full schedule here)
• Workouts take place Saturday-Tuesday
• Here are the players invited

Now that you have the basics, let's dive into a little more what's going down this week in Indianapolis.

The Combine workout schedule

Here are the days the actual workouts for each position group:

Saturday, Feb. 22: Tight Ends, Offensive Linemen, Special Teams

Sunday, Feb.23: Quarterbacks, Running Backs, Wide Receivers

Monday, Feb. 24: Defensive Line, Linebackers

Tuesday, Feb. 25: Defensive Backs

There are four groups of players arriving as shown above. Each group has four days of events.

Day 1: Travel to Indianapolis* ~ Registration ~ Hospital Pre-Exam & X-rays ~ Orientation ~ Interviews

Day 2: Measurements ~ Medical Examinations ~ Media ~ Interviews

Day 3: NFLPA Meeting ~ Psychological Testing ~ PK/ST Workout ~ Bench Press ~ Interviews

Day 4: On-Field Workout (timing, stations, skill drills) ~ Departure from Indianapolis

With the first arrivals coming on Wednesday, that puts the first day of workouts on Saturday.

The players invited

Every top college football player will likely be in attendance in Indianapolis, even if some of the top athletes won't participate in the workouts. The NFL invited over 300 players to attend. Teddy Bridgewater to Jadeveon Clowney, your favorite college players will likely be there.

Who is eligible to be invited to the Combine? Basically, seniors without college eligibility left and those who have declared early.

And how are players selected to the Combine? Read this:

Participants are determined annually by a Selection Committee. The Directors of both National and BLESTO scouting services, which combined represent twenty-five NFL teams, are joined by members of various NFL player personnel departments to form the committee. The participating NFL executives can rotate on a yearly basis, and remain anonymous. ALL eligible players are reviewed and voted on by the committee members. Each athlete receiving the necessary number of votes, by position, is then extended an invitation. While it is not a perfect science, the goal of the committee is to invite every player that will be drafted in the ensuing NFL Draft.

You can find the full list of players expected to attend at the bottom of this post. While the list is comprehensive, there are a few players every year who are drafted but didn't get invited to the Combine.

The workouts

The most important one is not a workout -- it's the interview. Teams will have the opportunity to interview players where they'll get about 15 minutes with them. With so little time, the questions have to be precise and all have a purpose.

The second most important item there is getting the medical check-up -- essentially confirming that the player is healthy or checking out previous injuries. Team doctors will want this information so the GMs and coaches can make an informed decision.

Some of the other workouts, via Big Blue View:

40-yard dash: Measures straight line speed over a distance. Not very important for non-skill position players, but coming from the 40-yard dash is the "10-yard split." That is the time it takes to travel the first 10 yards of the event and gives a measurement as to the player's explosion and first step. Very important for defensive and offensive linemen. Dontari Poe had a 10-yard split of 1.7 at 330 pounds, which is decent for a linebacker.Bruce Irvin at 235 pounds had a 10-yard split of 1.57, which is a good number for a defensive back. Both help push those players into the middle of the first round.

Bench press: Fairly simple, it measures upper body strength. Moreso it shows if you have stayed in good condition over the offseason. Poor numbers here possibly indicate not working hard enough.

Vertical and Broad jump: Another measurement of explosion and lower body strength. Also important for wide receivers and defensive backs to show off their leaping ability.

3-cone drill: Essentially a change of direction drill. Most important for skill position players. Shows off lateral agility and ability to accelerate out of a turn. One of the drills that translates best on the field. A good score in the 3 cone is often a marker for a high draft pick.

20/60-yard shuttles: Shows the ability to come to a complete stop and accelerate. Obviously important for any position and a good score here is indicative of explosion and body control. As you can see, explosion is a big factor here and one that the NFL is keen to see.

Position-specific drills: Each position has specific drills that test for many different attributes. Change of direction and hip swing for defensive backs, hands skills for wide receivers during the "gauntlet," kick slide drills for the offensive linemen, power for the defensive linemen in hitting bag drills and accuracy for quarterbacks in throwing drills.

How do I watch the Combine?

NFL Network will televise some of it.

NFL.com will stream the action.

KCChiefs.com will have full video of Andy Reid and John Dorsey's press conferences but will not stream them live.

[Direckshun]

Dorsey takes the podium at 12:15.

[Direckshun]

Matt Miller ‏@nfldraftscout 2m
John Dorsey on reports that they aren't re-signing Branden Albert: "Really? I hadn't heard that." #Chiefs

Adam Teicher ‏@adamteicher 1m
Dorsey at podium now at combine. Says Chiefs haven't determined they will not re-sign Albert, contrary to a recent report

BJ Kissel ‏@bkissel7 4m
For #Chiefs to say that publicly about Albert. Even if serious, they have a LOT of work to do on cap to make it feasible. Not even close now

Nick Jacobs ‏@Jacobs71 16m
John Dorsey says they have had conversations with Branden Albert's representatives here & that the conversations are on going. #Chiefs

They are talking to Branden Albert. Will be interesting to see where that goes, if anywhere.

[Direckshun]

Donald Stephenson the frontrunner at LT in 2014, peeps.

Dan Kadar ‏@MockingTheDraft 46s
John Dorsey said Eric Fisher is his right tackle.

[Direckshun]

Dan Kadar ‏@MockingTheDraft 22s
Dorsey said when he got to KC he didn't realize how tough Jamaal Charles was. He said Knile Davis developed, making Charles fresher late.

Another tidbit:

Eddie Wells ‏@EddieW9 9m
#Illini "@SprowESPN: #Chiefs GM John Dorsey says he expects A.J. Jenkins to have a big role next season."

[Direckshun]

Dan Kadar ‏@MockingTheDraft 17s
Dorsey said whatever free agents he signs won't have an effect on his draft board.

blah blah blah

Edit: And that's it. Well, at least we know what angle the Chiefs are taking on Fisher, now.

[Direckshun]

Heh:

Matthew Fairburn ‏@MatthewFairburn 1m
Derek Carr said he's glad there's no expansion teams like his brother had to deal with.

Apparently Carr has a very comfortable swagger that's rare talking with the media. Can't wait for the inevitable Gruden piece on him.

Matt Miller ‏@nfldraftscout 2m
Derek Carr is very loose, has the media laughing at his answers. He's a natural.

BJ Kissel ‏@bkissel7 51s
@nfldraftscout impressed how he opened up in Mobile talking about his family one day after practice. Genuine.

Matthew Fairburn ‏@MatthewFairburn 32m
Without question, Derek Carr is the most impressive person I've talked to this week. Everyone raves about him for a reason.

[Direckshun]

Am I updating this thread too much? I feel like I am.

Storm Johnson is disappointingly small: 6'0", 209. Thought he was bigger than that.

He runs like he's about 15 pounds heavier. He doesn't have the speed you'd like in a 209 lbs guy. Just a kneejerk reaction here, but it's possible he drops off the map.

[saphojunkie]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

2014 NFL Combine Rumors: Thursday, Feb. 20, 3:05 p.m.
By Tony Pauline, http://draftinsider.net/

Martavis Bryant, WR, Clemson:
Forty times of the receivers are always something to watch and I'm told the wide out who could surprise everyone is Martavis Bryant of Clemson. Bryant, who goes an unofficial 6-feet, 5-inches, is expected to run in the low 4.3's and could even breach the high 4.2's.

WHAT.

[saphojunkie]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

Am I updating this thread too much? I feel like I am.

Storm Johnson is disappointingly small: 6'0", 209. Thought he was bigger than that.

He runs like he's about 15 pounds heavier. He doesn't have the speed you'd like in a 209 lbs guy. Just a kneejerk reaction here, but it's possible he drops off the map.

**** no, I love it brah.

[Direckshun]

Terez A. Paylor ‏@TerezPaylor 31s
#Chiefs GM John Dorsey says he texted Derrick Johnson after his massive hit on Jamaal Charles. "I was mad at him," he said with a laugh.



More tweets trickling in about Dorsey's PC:

Terez A. Paylor ‏@TerezPaylor 48s
#Chiefs GM John Dorsey says he doesn't anticipate using the franchise tag.

Herbie Teope ‏@HerbieTeope 49s
#Chiefs GM Dorsey on pending UFAs: “What we’ve done is we’ve reached out to every representative for every UFA that we have.”

Terez A. Paylor ‏@TerezPaylor 1m
Dorsey says the #Chiefs will probably interview about 75 percent of the players before the draft.

Herbie Teope ‏@HerbieTeope 1m
#Chiefs GM John Dorsey on DB Sanders Commings: “I have great confidence in Sanders and his ability to play in the secondary.”

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by saphojunkie

WHAT.

Bryant's got Bowe's concentration issues, but he's a player, no doubt. Fantastic measurables. I'd love it if he lasted to the 3rd day, but not with those measurables...

[Direckshun]

Ha! Who knew.

Chris Sembower ‏@ChrisSembower 1m
Random combine stat: The only active QB with a higher Wonderlic test than the #Chiefs Alex Smith is former Harvard QB Ryan Fitzpatrick

[Direckshun]

Jared Abbrederis, Wisconsin, is bigger than I anticipated. 6-1, 195. He could actually play effectively on the outside -- would be one of those fast, smart route-runners that would gel with Smith well.

Marquise Lee is smaller than I expected... 5'11", 192. Second day, here he comes...

[Direckshun]

Outside of the three monster-sized WRs (Evans, Benjamin, and Brandon Coleman), here are the WRs with the biggest hands reported so far:

Odell Beckham, Jr., LSU: 10" (boom -- is there anything not to love about this guy)
Kain Colter, Northwestern: 10"
Mike Davis, Texas: 10"
Anthony Denham, Utah: 10.5" (very large WR, though)
Austin Franklin, New Mexico State: 10"

No notable WRs under 9" though. I think bigger hands is a plus, but I don't think smaller hands are a negative when it comes to WRs. Torrey Smith had like 8" hands.

Edit: TJ Jones (who is also bigger than I thought at 6'0") and Jarvis Landry also have 10+" hands. Jordan Matthews with 10.5" hands. Kevin Norwood @ 10". Willie Snead @ 10.25".

We have our only major sub-9" hands from a major prospect, in Paul Richardson.

[warrior]

[QUOTE=Direckshun;10445073]Am I updating this thread too much? I feel like I am.



No, your doing a great job keep up the good work.