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.

[saphojunkie]

Anybody else think that, when they were talking about where and when Logan Thimas goes, they were describing KC perfectly?

[O.city]

Dri archer, d'anthiny, or Henry josey in the 4 round plz

[OldSchool]

Originally Posted by O.city

Dri archer, d'anthiny, or Henry josey in the 4 round plz

I would take Anthony over Archer just because Archer really does virtually always go down on first contact, even if it's just an arm tackle and will have the same problems as Austin did early on with just the strength of the defenders. Anthony has shown the ability to break through some arm tackles and I think he has better vision as a runner. Archer may be a McCluster type guy where he ultimately ends up in the slot.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by OldSchool

I would take Anthony over Archer just because Archer really does virtually always go down on first contact, even if it's just an arm tackle and will have the same problems as Austin did early on with just the strength of the defenders. Anthony has shown the ability to break through some arm tackles and I think he has better vision as a runner. Archer may be a McCluster type guy where he ultimately ends up in the slot.

Archer is much better as a pass catcher than Thomas at this point it seems.

In and Andy Reid offense, archers speed and agility out of the backfield or the slot would be pretty epic

[OldSchool]

Originally Posted by O.city

Archer is much better as a pass catcher than Thomas at this point it seems.

In and Andy Reid offense, archers speed and agility out of the backfield or the slot would be pretty epic

I just wish he would add a little bit more power to be able to at least resist arm tackles.

But damn, can't coach 4.26 speed. Truly special speed, I would draft him and put him in the slot or run Reid's quick screens/under routes with him.

[O.city]

Only problem is e gets banged up pretty easily

[OldSchool]

Originally Posted by O.city

Only problem is e gets banged up pretty easily

Yup, he played injured a lot. Not gonna hold up in the NFL unless he adds some bulk to his frame.

However, to be fair to him, he is not actually injury prone. He just missed time last year due to a badly injured ankle and was otherwise alright. Tough kid but he just goes down too easy for me to consider sticking to him at RB.

He's essentially Dexter McCluster but with a lot more explosion and speed. He can truly outrun angles like Chris Johnson at his peak was able to. I would have to project him to the slot position but I'm not sure about his hands. They are good for a RB, but as a WR?

[bowener]

I know I'm late on this probably, but 4.68 is a lot slower than I expected for Johnny Football.

[In58men]

Kelvin Benjamin is a monster.

[Mother****erJones]

Originally Posted by saphojunkie

Anybody else think that, when they were talking about where and when Logan Thimas goes, they were describing KC perfectly?

What they say

[In58men]

Mike Evans having a solid performance, he looks calm out there.

[Mother****erJones]

Knowing Ebron is not gona be there for us and we don't have the ammunition to trade up, I like Evans in round 1

[OldSchool]

Originally Posted by Mother****erJones

Knowing Ebron is not gona be there for us and we don't have the ammunition to trade up, I like Evans in round 1

Evans is going top 15, bet on it. He's too dominant at the point of the catch, high effort player, tons of college production in the SEC, and he was explosive at the combine.

[In58men]

Originally Posted by Mother****erJones

Knowing Ebron is not gona be there for us and we don't have the ammunition to trade up, I like Evans in round 1

He just ran a horrible route. I like Kelvin Benjamin.

[Mother****erJones]

Originally Posted by Inmem58

He just ran a horrible route. I like Melvin Benjamin.

We have good coaches.