Hyosub Shin
College football players waste their time and ruining their potential career by attending the NFL combine. The NFL combine was on February 17th to Feb 23rd in Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana and for many players was a blow to their self esteem and their chances to be drafted in the first round of the draft on Apr 30.
The combine is a chance for the best college football players in the country to improve their draft stock so they can be drafted higher than they were previously thought to be but usually does nothing but drop good players’ stocks.
The athletes that were invited did several workouts to display their abilities. The workouts were 40 yard dash, bench presses, vertical jump, broad jump, 3 cone drill, and the shuttle run.
Marcus Mariota and Jameis Winston are the top two quarterbacks going into the draft and both attended the combine. Both quarterbacks are trying to be the number one draft pick and competed at the combine. Winston had the better combine and in many mock drafts on NFL.com is expected to be drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the first pick in the draft while Mariota is expected to be drafted by the New York Jets with the sixth pick in the draft.
If Mariota had not attended the combine, his draft stock might be different and he might be the first player drafted in this year’s draft. His 40 yard dash showed great athleticism but proving he may not be an NFL type player. Since they both competed, NFL scouts saw more potential in Winston.
Many other athletes dropped their draft stock, including Auburn wide receiver Sammie Coates who had a 4.43 40 yard dash while he was expected less than a 4.4 because one of his biggest strengths is his speed. This dropped his draft stock significantly as he was one of the top wide receivers entering the draft. He had the potential to be a first round draft choice but his stock dropped significantly making him a potential second round draft pick which will slightly decrease his playing time he gets with the team that drafts him. All of this is because he had a poor combine. If had had decided not to attend the combine his stock might be different.
This is the same thing that happens to multiple other players whose stock is sometimes dropped from a potential first round pick to a third or fourth round pick which deems the combine useless if not hurtful to the players who attend.
The combine is very helpful for lower ranked players bringing their draft stock through the roof but renders useless for players who have all but secured a first round draft spot.The combine also shows teams the different players’ weaknesses which often makes the teams decide against drafting them.
Most quarterbacks who have been drafted with the first pick over the past ten years have decided against attending the combine because it often hurts them as it did Tom Brady who had an awful combine the year he was drafted which nearly ruined his career due to his low draft pick.
The combine is a tremendous waste of time for players with secured high draft spots and a career ender for many potential NFL stars.