The Combine: A Football Player’s Proving Ground!
Speed, power, agility, quickness, strength; all important physical qualities the high level football athlete needs to posses to be successful. Evaluation of these qualities is important in determining what a football player’s strengths and weaknesses are. The NFL holds an annual event known as the NFL Scouting Combine, pooling the top prospective college football draft picks at the RCA dome, home of the Indianapolis Colts, to test the athletes on a myriad of physical qualities. The combine is the virtual proving ground for many prospects to show NFL scouts, general managers, and coaches what they can bring to the table at the NFL Draft in terms of physical skills.
Comparative measurements of the human body such as, height, weight and body fat are evaluated at the combine with these physical tests: a) 40 yard dash, b) vertical jump, c) broad jump, d) 20 yard shuttle, e) 60 yard shuttle, f) three-cone drill, and g) bench press (225lbs x reps). The first three tests are designed to test explosive power and speed. The 20 and 60 yard shuttles and three-cone drills test an athlete’s ability to start, accelerate, decelerate and change direction. The 225lb bench press test evaluates a player’s upper body strength.
There were some outstanding performances at the 2006 NFL Combine in Indianapolis. The fastest 40 yard time was recorded by Tye Hill (4.30s), a DB from Clemson who also ran the fasted three-cone time (6.63s). The massive and cut Vernon Davis (TE), from Maryland, had one of the highest vertical jumps at the combine (42 inches) in addition to pumping out an unreal 33 reps with 225lb on the bench press.
If athletes do not get invited to the combine but are still good prospects, they are tested on the same tests distributed at the combine at colleges around the nation by visiting NFL scouts (Pro Days). This spring a few local college football players have been getting good looks by NFL scouts at their Pro Days. One of them is local standout Kevin Culbert who not only was a standout defensive end for Frostburg State University in Maryland, but also a star player at Loudoun Valley High School. Kevin led all Division III defensive players in sacks and tackles for yards lost. Because of his lack of size in his senior year, 6’4, 228lbs, Kevin’s goal was to increase performance to play linebacker in the NFL.
Kevin’s agent, Jeff Jankovich, employed Dynamic Sports Performance (DSP) to train Kevin to put up the combine numbers that would have scouts drooling over him. In just eight weeks of intense training at DSP, Kevin gained nearly 17lbs of muscle while dropping 4% body fat. In addition, his training brought his 40 yard times down from the 4.7’s to the 4.5’s. What’s even more impressive was the fact that Kevin’s best time tested in the three-cone drill would have got him the second best time of all the nation’s top linebackers at the 2006 NFL Scouting Combine, 6.75s. “Because of DSP’s combine training program, I improved my numbers immensely,” says Culbert. Because of his talents on the field and the numbers that Kevin has been able to put up at his Pro Days, scouts have been putting Kevin on the radar. In fact, the New York Giants flew out a linebacker’s coach to work Kevin out on position-specific drills when he did a Pro Day at Towson University in Mid March.
Because of the emphasis that the NFL places on these combine tests, prospective players need to train hard to maximize their test scores.
Says Mark Nemish, owner of DSP: “Whether one thinks that scores on a test are going to make someone a better football player or not is irrelevant. The fact of the matter is that improving your numbers can make millions of dollars difference for some in terms of draft rankings. If a prospect puts up poor numbers, his draft status may weaken. Conversely, if diamonds in the rough such as Kevin Culbert or Steven Cason (William & Mary DB) put up great numbers, they will get more looks from the NFL scouts and as a result, potentially earn themselves a much bigger payday.”
Combine testing is sometimes used at the high school level to help the recruiting process of athletes as potential college football players. Regardless of whether you’re going into the pros or into college, a future player would be wise to improve their physical scores as a means of opening up the eyes of pro-scout/recruiters. However, no matter how good one’s scores are, the bottom line is their ability to play the game!
