Value Of The NFL Combine

Looking to have your client rise up on Mel Kiper’s Big Board? Hoping to prevent him from falling to the 6th round? Realize the importance of the NFL combine.

This year, 327 players have been invited to Indianapolis, which is where the combine is held every year.

There are 3 activities in particular that stick out at the NFL combine. It would be important to make sure that your client is prepared to take on all 3 highly visible sections:

1) 225-pound bench press (# of reps)

2) 40-yard dash (amount of seconds it takes)

3) Wonderlic test (23 minute, 50-question exam)

Vince Young was in the paper for a long time after the combine for his terrible performance on the Wonderlic test last year. He has obviously made up for his score with his performance so far for the Tennessee Titans; however, the initial bad publicity could have caused him to drop in last year’s draft.

There are many companies that specialize in preparing players for the NFL combine. If you represent a player who has been invited to the combine, it may be worth your while to enroll your client with one of the companies. A simple Google search led me to programs such as Xplosive Speed, IKEI Performance, and Cris Carter’s FAST Program.

Some players opt out of the combine and decide to limit the showing off of their skills to pro day workouts at college campuses across the country. Brady Quinn and JaMarcus Russell have decided to take such a path [Pasquarelli: Quinn confused by plunging stock]. The top 3 quarterbacks in each draft often refuse to perform at the combine [Clayton: Russell makes a big impression].

Realize the importance of the combine, and make sure that if your client is prepared to raise his stock if he is lucky enough to be invited.

-Darren Heitner