The 2011 NFL Combine – The Workout Drills and What the Coaches are Looking For
The 2011 NFL Combine – The Workout Drills and What the Coaches are Looking For.
Think of the NFL Combine as a very vigorous and intense 4 day long job interview for the prospective drafts. College students from across the US gather at Indianapolis where scouts, coaches, executives and even doctors from all the NFL teams come to draft potential athletes. The combine is a mixture of various drills and workouts which every player has to undertake. The top athletes are always grabbed right off the shelf, so to speak. In this article, we will take a football scoreboards look at the various workout drills that the combine sets up for the athletes to go through and what exactly the scouts, coaches and everyone else is looking for in a player.
The 40-yard Dash – this is the most anticipated and important event in the combine and is the combine’s marquee event. This drill is to test an athlete’s speed and agility over a 40 yard dash. The athletes’ speeds are measured 3 times during the 40 yard dash: at 10, 20 and 40 yards.
What the football scoreboards coaches are most interested in is the athlete’s take off time (start time) from the static point (the start line). Therefore, the player with the fastest 10-yard dash is always a favorite with the coaches and the scouts.
The Bench Press – this is not only a test of strength, but also a test of endurance. The coaches want to see how well the athlete can handle bench pressing 225 pounds, i.e. how many reps the athlete can do.
The coaches use this event to guage how much time the athlete spent in the weight room in their college years. Through this event, they can gauge how much importance the athlete gave to his strength and endurance.
The Vertical Jump – this event tests the athlete’s lower body power. The athletes stand tall on their feet (flat-footed) and jump up as high as they possibly can to try and touch the highest flag they can on the pole (overhead).
This is a fairly simple test, but shows the coaches exactly how much power that athlete can call to his feet and legs at crunch times.
The Broad Jump – this is similar to the vertical jump, however, instead of jumping vertically, the athletes are asked to jump forward (horizontally). The athletes have to land on both of their feet, so it is not just about the distance their jump can cover, but also about the balance they maintain after remaining air borne for a few nano-seconds and assuming the same position they started the jump with.
The 3 Cone Drill – this event tests the ability of the athlete to change directions suddenly at high speeds. 3 cones are set in an L-shape and the athlete is instructed to turn corners as fast as he can without losing too much speed. The coaches look for an athlete who can turn sharply without decelerating. Pass rushers are usually among the athletes with the best time in this event.
The Shuttle Run – like the 3 cone drill, this drill tests the athletes speed and agility to turn sharply without decelerating. However, unlike the 3 cone, this drill tests the speed of an athlete running laterally (sideways) for a short distance (5-10yads).
For more information; go to:
nfl.com/combine
