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.

[Dante84]

Keep it up D

[Direckshun]

This is unrelated to anything I've seen today, but I was looking at some tape of Antone Exum of Virginia Tech yesterday, and other than coming back from injury, he reminds me exactly of Sanders Commings when he was at Georgia.

Basically the same player. Should be on the Chiefs radar.

I'm lukewarm on the guy, but I was lukewarm on Commings as well.

[Direckshun]

Tyrann Mathieu ‏@Mathieu_Era 35m
They measured my height , My weight , They test my speed, My Strength but never thought to measure my heart ##NFLCombine

[Direckshun]

Sac nailed this one.

Tony Pauline ‏@TonyPauline · Feb 17
I'm told Keith McGill/Utah looks impressive in training & expecting a great result at combine; most also feel he plays S not CB on Sunday's

[Direckshun]

Fullback J.C. Copeland of LSU weighed in at 271. Big boy.

[Sfeihc]

Well, it's good to see that Fisher will have to earn the left tackle job and not just given to him.

[OldSchool]

Originally Posted by saphojunkie

WHAT.

His measurables are good and all, he'll test off the charts, but he has tons of red flags that'll make teams pass on him until the late rounds. Someone may be suckered into drafting him high, like Stephen Hill was with the Jets, just hope it's not us.

[Rudy tossed tigger's salad]

Give me Beckham

[Rudy tossed tigger's salad]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

Tyrann Mathieu ‏@Mathieu_Era 35m
They measured my height , My weight , They test my speed, My Strength but never thought to measure my heart ##NFLCombine

This guy loves the game so much that he couldn't quit his MJ habit

[O.city]

Beckham looks more and more like he's a perfect Andy Reid type WR and I think he's the type of playmaker you look for. Plus he's tough as balls.


I'm officially endorsing him for my pick.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

Donald Stephenson the frontrunner at LT in 2014, peeps.

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

What this says to me is that the structure Clark Hunt wanted is happening. Whether or not it works is to be seen but the structure is functioning the way Hunt wanted it to.

Dorsey grabbed Fisher and Reid said "he's a right tackle right now". And Dorsey isn't about to second guess that.

[Rudy tossed tigger's salad]

Are the O-lineman doing BP today? Thought it was tomorrow, but someone reporting Jake Matthews did 24 reps.

[saphojunkie]

Originally Posted by Rudy lost the toss

Give me Beckham

I'll still take Marquise Lee over him if he falls. Wanted that kid ever since he stepped on campus. But yeah, Beckham is looking like a perfect fit at 23.

[OldSchool]

Amaro is strong, 28 bench reps with long arms. Ebron had 24. ASJ, 20. Marcel Jensen, 24. CJ, 25. Niklas, 27. Most reps was Duncan at 35.

[OldSchool]

Bodine, Center out of NC, led all OL with 42. Richardson put up 36, Robinson came in with 32, Thomas had 35, Jackson put up 30, Lewan and MArtin both had 29.