Should combines determine your fate?

[joethefan]

I hope that you all understand what I meant about going after Jones...Before people were saying Greg Jones wasn't doing well in the practices...well what happened today?...I believe that those combines only take a player through more unecessary crap.... if you have a bad day in the combine that should not determine your fate... bottom line is what happens on the field not at a combine with the entire world judging you...

[truant]

Jones was having a good week at the senior bowl and now he had a great game. I don't think the combine should be such a big deal, but hopefully he doesn't impress too much.

When GM are gambling with millions of dollars they start to get the size and speed needed and they assume that coaches can make them into playmakers. Sometimes it's true (Stallworth) but often it pushes the real talented people down.

[PennSkinsFan]

Its hard to say. In one breath I say, combines are kind of unfair to judge overall talent, abilities, and skills. In actuality, it is short sideness to look at in that scope. To me, you evaluate a player based on combines, game tapes, opponent strength they went up against and how they fared, etc....but on the other hand, the combines are a high stress situation for these players, much like situation they wil face int he NFL, HIGH STRESS. Choke or not?

[Patrick]

They shouldn't BUT they do!

[RichardBradley]

If Jones was smart after the Senior Bowl he had he should stay home form the combine...

[IowaSkinsFan]

Natural talent tends to stand out more at the senior bowl. Plays are very basic, there is no gam planning going on. The schemes that make some players appear great in the pros and college level are missing from the Senior Bowl. That's why Greg Jones looked so great, the defense wasn't "geared" to stop him.

That being said, I still think we should select him in the second if he is still available.

[Skin-E-Dip]

Combines should only confirm what you've seen on the field. If a kid can run like lightning and lift a million tons in the combine then why didn't this translate to a great year on the field. And if the kid couldnt use his gifts against college talent then how much better will he do in the pros?

And if a kid had a great college year and looked bad in the combines then so what. That kid obviously knows how to use what they have to maximum potential

[SkinsKY]

It's just a point of reference and a chance to get most of the talent into one place. It shouldn't count for everything, but it's hard to stop drooling when someone turns in a 4.2 time. I like it because you can standardize the conditions to test a player for speed, agility, strength, etc.

I don't buy the argument that it's not fair if you have a combine. Sprinters don't complain when they lose in the Olympics because they had a bad race. Good players perform when they need to. I think it's beginning to become an increasingly moot point as more and more players seem to be having their own private workouts.

[VirginiaRedskin]

IMO, the Combine can be a useful tool. However, it has probably caused more teams to reach for a workout hero who tested well in drills, but never played as well with pads, then it gave insight to a great player that had gone previously un-noticed. This can work to a team's favor however. Sometimes a player does not have a good Combine and therefore slips to the second or third round and becomes a steal. Look at Arizona's Anquan Boldin who slipped due to a slower 40 time. I knew he was going to be great and could not believe he slipped to the second round and turned out to be the rookie of the year. A smart coach like Joe Gibbs really knows how to evaluate talent and will exploit other teams passing on good potential players. That is why trading down and acquiring more picks is somewhat interesting to me. Most starters on the field of any team were not number one picks.

[IowaSkinsFan]

The combines are what help teams draft players like Heath Shuler (us), Mike Mamula (Eagles), Jon Harris (Eagles) and other work out warriors.

It helps marginal football players just as much as it hurts good players.