After watching the E:60 report on ESPN about QB Tom Brady I starting thinking about NFL Scouting Combine and came to an eye-opening conclusion. The Combine is useless in evaluating QB’s. There are six measurable drills that have nothing to do with playing QB in the NFL and explain why.
I’ll start with the 40 yard dash and bench press drills. The 40 yard dash is a way for scouts to measure a player’s speed. QB’s shouldn’t run a 40 Yard dash. There job is to drop 5 to seven yards behind the offensive line and throw the ball. The only running plays that every team has for their QB’s is the sneak play and the naked boot. Neither play is designed to go far and only one requires the QB to actually get up to full speed. The bench press is almost as useless for QB’s. The bench press is a measure of a players upper body strength which by that definition seems to be an important tool for evaluating a QB but the bench press is a pushing motion drill not a throwing motion drill. The bench press is a drill that is best suited for linemen.
The 2 jumping drills make a little more sense for QB’s because they can show a player’s explosiveness in the legs and hips but when you break down the motions you can see that they really have nothing to do with the QB position. The vertical jump has no practical application to playing QB. QB’s don’t jump to throw ball very often it if they do it is normally off of one leg while running. The broad jump translates well with tackling not throwing so once again what is the point of putting QB’s through it?
The shuttle run is a drill designed to show one’s ability to change directions laterally. You have to run 5 yards to the right then 10yards to the left and then 5 more yards to the right to finish the drill. Granted I have seen a few QB’s try and scramble in a similar pattern, but it’s not quite the same thing. The 3 cone drill is a joke when it comes to assessing a QB’s talent. Zig-zagging around cones, at least in that fashion, is not something that is asked of a professional QB. 6 drills and not one of them can be used to judge the potential of a QB prospect, yet the combine has risen the draft stock of several players over the years.
Assessing college QB’s should be done primarily through watching film and talking with coaches. On film you can see exactly what you are going to get on the field. You can see if a kid can read defenses or just picks a receiver and throws the ball. Most importantly you can see what a kid can’t do to this point in his career. If a college QB worked completely out of the shotgun then you know that he hadn’t taken a snap from under center in about 4 years. If there is a glitch in a prospects throwing motion then you will see it on film. The biggest thing you get to see is how a prospect reacts when things don’t work out as planned. None of these things can be realized at the combine.
Anything that the prospect shows you at the Combine is practiced and rehearsed for the Combine and can’t always be trusted to show up on a professional field. Tim Tebow is a perfect example of this. He took drops at the Combine; he threw with the perfect pro form at the combine and tested very well in the measurable drills also. He gets to a game and he is in the shotgun running the wildcat and still throwing with the same motion as college. JaMarcus Russell showed that he was an athletic freak at the Combine so he was taken as the first pick. The Raiders never looked at the film of him playing. If they did they would have seen a man that was unable to read defenses, wasn’t a very accurate thrower, and only had one good season at LSU.
The Combine is a joke when it comes to assessing QB’s and shouldn’t be used in the decision making process. The most important things for QB’s can’t be measured and can’t be tested in one day with a stop watch. The intangibles like leadership, intelligence, and heart are more important to the future development of a QB than the bench press and 40yard dash times. Watch the film, do the interviews, and use former coaches as tools for assessing QB’s and leave the Combine to the athletes it can actually be useful for.
I’ll start with the 40 yard dash and bench press drills. The 40 yard dash is a way for scouts to measure a player’s speed. QB’s shouldn’t run a 40 Yard dash. There job is to drop 5 to seven yards behind the offensive line and throw the ball. The only running plays that every team has for their QB’s is the sneak play and the naked boot. Neither play is designed to go far and only one requires the QB to actually get up to full speed. The bench press is almost as useless for QB’s. The bench press is a measure of a players upper body strength which by that definition seems to be an important tool for evaluating a QB but the bench press is a pushing motion drill not a throwing motion drill. The bench press is a drill that is best suited for linemen.
The 2 jumping drills make a little more sense for QB’s because they can show a player’s explosiveness in the legs and hips but when you break down the motions you can see that they really have nothing to do with the QB position. The vertical jump has no practical application to playing QB. QB’s don’t jump to throw ball very often it if they do it is normally off of one leg while running. The broad jump translates well with tackling not throwing so once again what is the point of putting QB’s through it?
The shuttle run is a drill designed to show one’s ability to change directions laterally. You have to run 5 yards to the right then 10yards to the left and then 5 more yards to the right to finish the drill. Granted I have seen a few QB’s try and scramble in a similar pattern, but it’s not quite the same thing. The 3 cone drill is a joke when it comes to assessing a QB’s talent. Zig-zagging around cones, at least in that fashion, is not something that is asked of a professional QB. 6 drills and not one of them can be used to judge the potential of a QB prospect, yet the combine has risen the draft stock of several players over the years.
Assessing college QB’s should be done primarily through watching film and talking with coaches. On film you can see exactly what you are going to get on the field. You can see if a kid can read defenses or just picks a receiver and throws the ball. Most importantly you can see what a kid can’t do to this point in his career. If a college QB worked completely out of the shotgun then you know that he hadn’t taken a snap from under center in about 4 years. If there is a glitch in a prospects throwing motion then you will see it on film. The biggest thing you get to see is how a prospect reacts when things don’t work out as planned. None of these things can be realized at the combine.
Anything that the prospect shows you at the Combine is practiced and rehearsed for the Combine and can’t always be trusted to show up on a professional field. Tim Tebow is a perfect example of this. He took drops at the Combine; he threw with the perfect pro form at the combine and tested very well in the measurable drills also. He gets to a game and he is in the shotgun running the wildcat and still throwing with the same motion as college. JaMarcus Russell showed that he was an athletic freak at the Combine so he was taken as the first pick. The Raiders never looked at the film of him playing. If they did they would have seen a man that was unable to read defenses, wasn’t a very accurate thrower, and only had one good season at LSU.
The Combine is a joke when it comes to assessing QB’s and shouldn’t be used in the decision making process. The most important things for QB’s can’t be measured and can’t be tested in one day with a stop watch. The intangibles like leadership, intelligence, and heart are more important to the future development of a QB than the bench press and 40yard dash times. Watch the film, do the interviews, and use former coaches as tools for assessing QB’s and leave the Combine to the athletes it can actually be useful for.
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