Problem with the bench press metric.
 

There is obviously a problem with the typical number of reps metric. Is there a simple solution?

I was thinking, would it make sense to measure the distance from a player's chest to a fully extended rep, then multiply number of reps by that distance to get total distance the weight was moved?

Just throwing something out there.

That test isn't to test their actual strength. It's to see which prospect puts in the time in the weight room to get better. Helps the coaches to distinguish between who slacks off and who is coming in with a great work ethic in terms of physically preparing themselves for the game. The number only really matters if it is alarmingly low. IE, less than 20 reps for OL and DL players is a red flag no matter how long their arms are. Teams look at the numbers and compare it to the tape; is the strength, or lack of strength, reflected on the field?

pretty much. that being said hali lifted only 18x, and jared aalen 13x. they both turned out ok.

Is this true?

Their bench press numbers are listed on their wiki as well as multiple sites such as:

nfldraftscout.com/ratings/dsprofile.php?pyid=12471&draftyear=2006&genpos=DE
nfldraftscout.com/ratings/dsprofile.php?pyid=58444&draftyear=2004&genpos=DE

As for them turning out "ok", I personally think that is an understatement. They are both multiple year probowlers. Hali has 73.5 sacks and 27 forced fumbles for his career, while Allen has 128.5 career sacks and 29 forced fumbles. I think most would say they are better than "ok", but that is a subjective opinion.

Statistically I could make the case that they are better than average at their respective positions.

The press is probably the least important Combine exercise there is.

It would honestly make more sense to have everybody do leg presses, with the possible exception of linemen.

I'm not a fan. It's one of those things teams use jut to see how much work they'll need for a given prospect, which is pretty well known before they even sit down on the bench.

Unless a guy totally tanks it, it's one of those things where it's pretty neat if they do well, but I don't care too much if they don't.

seems a bit silly to change one of the most basic lifts, and one of the oldest lifts in the history of lifting. a few things that should be done though is the enforcing of a more strict form. I saw a lot of guys hump pressing rather than bench pressing. it doesn't have to be as strict as a pause on the chest but it should be a controlled. touch and go. I honestly thought some of those guys were going to cave their chests in. another thing I would like to see is an increased amount of weight for lineman. it seems a bit silly for 160lb DB to be tested on the same weight as a 350lb offensive lineman. I say let the fatties rep 315. lets see what their raw strength is vs their endurance.

bench press at 225 is a test of muscular endurance more than strength.
Deadlift/squat would be a better test of strength.

It probably somewhat hurts the players progress as an athlete since they have to dedicate time to this lift...

More important stuff is like bone size (steelers measure bones) and leg press

No, if you really wanted to test their strength/power as it relates to football, see how many reps of power cleans/hang cleans they can do with 225 pounds instead of bench. That would be something that I would see as a better measuring tool.

I disagree that it's worthless. Shows a guys endurance in upper body power.

Will he have the arm strength to put space between he and the defender and shed the block or not.

Can he do it well? Can he do it for an entire game?

Start with 225 and throw on 20# at each rep until they stop.

Sr. Roberto:


http://media1.giphy.com/media/orL9qTRD9BiH6/giphy.gif

Here's another thing I'd like to see fixed... All players must perform all timed running drills in full gear (keep it uniform and put them in QB gear).

So Clowney ran a 4.53 40 at 6'5 266 lbs, but only did 21 reps on the bench press.

You're saying no big deal, but I'm sure every team in the top 3-4 picks including the Texans is saying the same thing.

These exercises are of some importance, but in most cases they aren't exactly crucial. Until NFL games are determined by how many reps of this or that, or what the shuttle-cone or straight line speed of various players is, these are just factors that go into assessing the qualities of a player.

I know Belichick, for one, has stated that eh wishes less time was spent getting into "combine shape" and more spent getting into football shape by these draft picks. As I understand it, the workout regimen for players IN the NFL is very, very different and BB was pretty much saying that all this effort to get ready for combine testing doesn't actually help these players on the field nearly as much as a program designed to get them ready to play.

If the texans don't take him, they need to move down with someone that would.

I saw Thomas Dimitroff basically say that he would love to move up and that would be amazing for that team.