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The NFL Combine is an annual event. College players hoping to make it to the NFL get an opportunity to showcase their skill sets to professional scouts from each of the 32 NFL teams. The Combine takes place during the NFL offseason each year ahead of the NFL Draft. It is filled with almost all college football players who enter the draft pool for that particular season.
Through a series of many different competitive events, including the 40-yard dash, bench press, broad jump, cone drills and other drills specific to every position in the NFL, players are compared side by side while demonstarting all of their athletic abilities. The NFL Combine also features many physical measurements and tests of intelligence, as well as an interviewing process to assess character traits.
How important is it for an NFL Draft prospect to perform well at the NFL Combine?
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The importance of individual players' performances at the NFL Combine has long been debated. The dilemma arises when a college player is an absolute superstar on the field but is unimpressive at the Combine. The same can be said about the opposite situation, when a player struggles to perform on the football field in their college career but turns heads at the Combine.
While both an on-field performance, as well as athletic abilities, are crucial in assessing an NFL prospect, neither one is the lone determining factor for their future success. There are many examples of great college players that never worked out in the NFL and also sleepers that underperformed in college and burst onto the scene in the NFL. The same can be said about Combine performances.
A strong performance at the NFL Combine can surely help a player's draft stock while allowing them to be selected at a higher pick position. Poor performances can also play a huge role in players falling below where they are projected and expected to be chosen based on college production.
The Combine also provides an opportunity for borderline prospects or relatively unknown ones to make a name for themselves. They can put themselves on the professional scouts radar with a big performance and can possibly get selected on draft day when they wouldn't have prior to the Combine. For some college players, it's their one and only big chance to make an impression before the draft.
The best method of assessing prospects is a combination of all the different factors. How an NFL Draft prospect performs at the Combine can, sometimes, be just as important as how they perform on the college football field. Balancing their entire body of work and determining how each part is weighted is a crucial process for every team when analyzing a prospect and making a selection on draft day.
