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]

Originally Posted by 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.

Gotta be honest, I'm not far from doing that, myself.

[OldSchool]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

You would be wrong.

NFL teams do not care about that press the way you do.

An NFL team sees those press numbers and says "he's got a lot of room to develop," not "he's not dedicated enough."

To me, it's a big problem if their play on the field matches their low numbers. It just shows me that they don't have the work ethic coming out of college that is required to become a dominant player at the next level. Now can they learn and develop that work ethic? Sure, but they don't have it yet and it's not a guarantee that they will develop it. In that respect, it raises a red flag to me vs a player like Jace Amaro, Eric Ebron, or Greg Robinson who obviously put in work in the weight room as well as being able to translate it to the field.

[Easy 6]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

That's just coachspeak. The coaches say the same shit about Jenkins that they do about, let's say, Fisher.

True, but in each instance there IS a chance each guy turns into a player.

I like the odds on both of those guys right now, if they were going to flourish anywhere its going to be in Kansas City... Jenkins is Kennison reborn I'd almost swear it and Fish has all of the athletic ability necessary but needed further bulk and technique to compete at this level.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

Gotta be honest, I'm not far from doing that, myself.

It just makes to much sense at this point.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

An NFL team sees those press numbers and says "he's got a lot of room to develop," not "he's not dedicated enough."

They might also see "he's got some physical limitations that will be hard to overcome".

[nbarone007]

Sign Nate Allen and Jeremy Maclin. Draft Jace Amaro.

Amaro came in at 6'5 265 28 reps and ran a 4.6 40. This guy is strong, fast, and put up big time numbers in college. Dude would be a great target for Smith in the middle of the field. We need a big time tight end. This guy is going to be a big time tight end.

[O.city]

We need pass rushers, I'd sped a later roru pick on Sam if he's there. 5th round or ao

[OldSchool]

I need to go find some videos of Leonard, Burtan, and Jordan. Do they play to their speed?

[O.city]

Burton does I think

He's very interesting as he could replace dexter on offense and be better

[planetdoc]

Originally Posted by nbarone007

Amaro came in at 6'5 265 28 reps and ran a 4.6 40. This guy is strong, fast, and put up big time numbers in college.

Travis Kelce ran a 4.61 forty
nfldraftscout.com/ratings/dsprofile.php?pyid=83323&draftyear=2013&genpos=TE

Amaro also lined up mainly in the slot at Texas Tech. He would have alot to learn lining up as a traditional TE.

[The Franchise]

Niklas leaving early was a surprise....but he could find his way into the 2nd round. Amazing.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by planetdoc

Travis Kelce ran a 4.61 forty
nfldraftscout.com/ratings/dsprofile.php?pyid=83323&draftyear=2013&genpos=TE

Amaro also lined up mainly in the slot at Texas Tech. He would have alot to learn lining up as a traditional TE.

Amaro is 10x the prospect Travis Kelce was.

[OldSchool]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

Amaro is 10x the prospect Travis Kelce was.

Athletically, I don't know. But I think Amaro was way more consistent as a pass catcher and at high pointing the ball. That being said, Kelce's offense in Cincy did him no favors in that regard.

Give me AC Leonard please. He's a bigger Delanie Walker with better hands and a larger catch radius. I would love to have him in the H-back role. He would kill OLBs on wheel routes and up the seem.

[saphojunkie]

Watching this combine just really hits home how ****ing weak last years draft class was. Everyone keeps alluding to, or outright saying that, Fisher doesn't compare with these tackles. He wouldn't be in the top 15 this year.

****ing Chiefs luck. unbelievable.

[planetdoc]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

Amaro is 10x the prospect Travis Kelce was.

Nfldraftscout currently has Amaro rated as the 2nd best TE, while it had Kelce rated as the 3rd best. Although Amaro is the better reciever, Kelce is the better blocker.

NFL's draft profile of Kelce compares him to Rob Gronkowski. He slid because he was suspended for 1yr for violating team rules in 2010, and had sports hernia surgery in the end of january of 2013 which prevented him from participating at the combine.