The Combine's Here, Bitch!

[Direckshun]

http://www.arrowheadpride.com/2014/2...-list-workouts

2014 NFL Combine schedule: TV channel, online streaming, invite list, workouts and more
By Matt Conner
on Feb 20 2014, 10:12a

he road to the NFL Draft is longer in 2014 than any other offseason given the league's decision to push it back a few weeks to May 8-10. For the next three months, draftniks will circle around prospects like hawks, analyzing their every move and weighing the pros and cons of each player.

The process starts en masse this week with the start of the 2014 NFL Combine in Indianapolis. If you love the Draft, then this is a big week for you.

For those who are new to the NFL Combine, it's a seven-day event broken up into four-day shifts for each position group (quarterbacks to punters). Each group comes to Indy for four days to meet with representatives from each NFL team for medical assessments, interviews and a number of workouts. It's termed the Underwear Olympics for that reason, as teams fall in and out of love with prospects based on 40-yard dash times and vertical leaps.

The quick guide to the Combine

• NFL Network will televise; NFL.com will stream
• Andy Reid (Thursday, 2:15 p.m.) and John Dorsey (Friday, 12:15 p.m.) will speak to the media (full schedule here)
• Workouts take place Saturday-Tuesday
• Here are the players invited

Now that you have the basics, let's dive into a little more what's going down this week in Indianapolis.

The Combine workout schedule

Here are the days the actual workouts for each position group:

Saturday, Feb. 22: Tight Ends, Offensive Linemen, Special Teams

Sunday, Feb.23: Quarterbacks, Running Backs, Wide Receivers

Monday, Feb. 24: Defensive Line, Linebackers

Tuesday, Feb. 25: Defensive Backs

There are four groups of players arriving as shown above. Each group has four days of events.

Day 1: Travel to Indianapolis* ~ Registration ~ Hospital Pre-Exam & X-rays ~ Orientation ~ Interviews

Day 2: Measurements ~ Medical Examinations ~ Media ~ Interviews

Day 3: NFLPA Meeting ~ Psychological Testing ~ PK/ST Workout ~ Bench Press ~ Interviews

Day 4: On-Field Workout (timing, stations, skill drills) ~ Departure from Indianapolis

With the first arrivals coming on Wednesday, that puts the first day of workouts on Saturday.

The players invited

Every top college football player will likely be in attendance in Indianapolis, even if some of the top athletes won't participate in the workouts. The NFL invited over 300 players to attend. Teddy Bridgewater to Jadeveon Clowney, your favorite college players will likely be there.

Who is eligible to be invited to the Combine? Basically, seniors without college eligibility left and those who have declared early.

And how are players selected to the Combine? Read this:

Participants are determined annually by a Selection Committee. The Directors of both National and BLESTO scouting services, which combined represent twenty-five NFL teams, are joined by members of various NFL player personnel departments to form the committee. The participating NFL executives can rotate on a yearly basis, and remain anonymous. ALL eligible players are reviewed and voted on by the committee members. Each athlete receiving the necessary number of votes, by position, is then extended an invitation. While it is not a perfect science, the goal of the committee is to invite every player that will be drafted in the ensuing NFL Draft.

You can find the full list of players expected to attend at the bottom of this post. While the list is comprehensive, there are a few players every year who are drafted but didn't get invited to the Combine.

The workouts

The most important one is not a workout -- it's the interview. Teams will have the opportunity to interview players where they'll get about 15 minutes with them. With so little time, the questions have to be precise and all have a purpose.

The second most important item there is getting the medical check-up -- essentially confirming that the player is healthy or checking out previous injuries. Team doctors will want this information so the GMs and coaches can make an informed decision.

Some of the other workouts, via Big Blue View:

40-yard dash: Measures straight line speed over a distance. Not very important for non-skill position players, but coming from the 40-yard dash is the "10-yard split." That is the time it takes to travel the first 10 yards of the event and gives a measurement as to the player's explosion and first step. Very important for defensive and offensive linemen. Dontari Poe had a 10-yard split of 1.7 at 330 pounds, which is decent for a linebacker.Bruce Irvin at 235 pounds had a 10-yard split of 1.57, which is a good number for a defensive back. Both help push those players into the middle of the first round.

Bench press: Fairly simple, it measures upper body strength. Moreso it shows if you have stayed in good condition over the offseason. Poor numbers here possibly indicate not working hard enough.

Vertical and Broad jump: Another measurement of explosion and lower body strength. Also important for wide receivers and defensive backs to show off their leaping ability.

3-cone drill: Essentially a change of direction drill. Most important for skill position players. Shows off lateral agility and ability to accelerate out of a turn. One of the drills that translates best on the field. A good score in the 3 cone is often a marker for a high draft pick.

20/60-yard shuttles: Shows the ability to come to a complete stop and accelerate. Obviously important for any position and a good score here is indicative of explosion and body control. As you can see, explosion is a big factor here and one that the NFL is keen to see.

Position-specific drills: Each position has specific drills that test for many different attributes. Change of direction and hip swing for defensive backs, hands skills for wide receivers during the "gauntlet," kick slide drills for the offensive linemen, power for the defensive linemen in hitting bag drills and accuracy for quarterbacks in throwing drills.

How do I watch the Combine?

NFL Network will televise some of it.

NFL.com will stream the action.

KCChiefs.com will have full video of Andy Reid and John Dorsey's press conferences but will not stream them live.

[Direckshun]

Beckham may have performed himself out of our 1st pick now. Awesome.

The good news is, Amaro's probably free at our selection now.

[planetdoc]

I still want Stephen Tuitt or Rashed hagemon. Great size/length and both benched over 30 reps respectively. cant wait to see how they do in the drills.

[OldSchool]

Originally Posted by planetdoc

I still want Stephen Tuitt or Rashed hagemon. Great size/length and both benched over 30 reps respectively. cant wait to see how they do in the drills.

Give me the value of Will Clarke or Brent Urban in the 4th vs Hagemon or Tuitt in the 1st. Would rather sign Alex Carrington or Ropati Pitoitua to be our new starter at RDE.

[Direckshun]

(a.) Assuming the following players are off the board:

QB Teddy Bridgewater, Louisville
QB Blake Bortles, UCF
QB Johnny Manziel. Texas A&M
QB Derek Carr, Fresno State
WR Sammy Watkins, Clemson
WR Mike Evans, Texas A&M
TE Eric Ebron, North Carolina
OT Jake Matthews, Texas A&M
OT Greg Robinson, Auburn
OT Tyler Lewan, Michigan
DT/DE Ra'Shede Hageman, Minnesota
DE Jadeveon Clowney, South Carolina
DE Kony Ealy, Missouri
OLB Khalil Mack,Buffalo
OLB Anthony Barr,UCLA
CB Darqueze Dennard, Michigan State
S HaHa Clinton-Dix, Alabama

(b.) And assuming no game-changing FAs are added, and of the departing FAs, we only retain Schwartz.

Here's a comprehensive list right now of who I'd take at 23, in order, as of now:

1. WR Odell Beckham, Jr., LSU -- fantastic playmaker, great YAC guy
2. TE Jace Amaro, Texas Tech -- peerless route-runner at the TE position
3. WR Brandin Cooks, Oregon State -- outstanding speed and athleticism, will stretch defenses
4. TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins, Washington -- project w/ huge size to be elite in future seasons
5. DE Stephon Tuitt, Notre Dame -- project with elite athleticism at 3-4 DE position
6. OLB Dee Ford, Auburn -- undersized, but with elite passrushing potential
7. S Calvin Pryor, Louisville -- will need work in coverage, but great at eating up space
8. NT Louis Nix, Notre Dame -- if Poe to DE is a serious option, and Nix lasts, this is worth considering
9. WR Allen Robinson, Penn State -- potential to be a really good #2 at the next level
10. OLB Trent Murphy, Stanford -- great passrusher, less than ideal athleticism
11. CB Justin Gilbert, Oklahoma State -- not a great fit for our D, but he can still win me over
12. WR Marquise Lee, USC -- on the verge of removing him from my 1st round board altogether

[saphojunkie]

Why are you on the verge of removing Marquise Lee?

[OldSchool]

Originally Posted by saphojunkie

Why are you on the verge of removing Marquise Lee?

Lee ran slower than expect and dropped a crap ton of passes last year.

[saphojunkie]

Originally Posted by OldSchool

Lee ran slower than expect and dropped a crap ton of passes last year.

You don't think he's a first round receiver?

[In58men]

Melvin Benjamin should be added to that list WTF man

[OldSchool]

Originally Posted by saphojunkie

You don't think he's a first round receiver?

Based on his 2012 tape, definitely. On 2013? Hell no. And there's your conundrum. Which Lee will you be getting? In this class, he would be too risky of a player for me to pull the trigger on ahead of Matthews, Cooks, and even Landry.

[planetdoc]

Originally Posted by OldSchool

Give me the value of Will Clarke or Brent Urban in the 4th vs Hagemon or Tuitt in the 1st. Would rather sign Alex Carrington or Ropati Pitoitua to be our new starter at RDE.

@271 lbs, Clarke is like another Catapano. Not someone who could contribute for the chiefs immediately. Urban is intriguing, but I am concerned why he didnt lift.

I'd be interested in bringing in Pitoitua back. Think he could fit nicely into sutton's system. Alex Carrington is JAG. I dont think he was as good in his career as Tyson jackson was this yr.

[OldSchool]

Originally Posted by planetdoc

@271 lbs, Clarke is like another Catapano. Not someone who could contribute for the chiefs immediately. Urban is intriguing, but I am concerned why he didnt lift.

I'd be interested in bringing in Pitoitua back. Think he could fit nicely into sutton's system. Alex Carrington is JAG. I dont think he was as good in his career as Tyson jackson was this yr.

I wonder why Reid and Dorsey decided to let Pitoitua go though, I thought he was a pretty solid player and he ended up playing really well for the Titans.

Catapano doesn't have the length that Clarke does. IMO, Clarke can become a very good 3-4 DE if he continues to fill out his frame and add more strength. He can immediately provide some pass rush depth as a rookie as well. Clarke's arms were longer than Hagemans.

[Mother****erJones]

Originally Posted by milkman

That's the deal right there.

There will be a number of kids sitting there at 23 that most of us could get solidly behind.

As long as it's not a lineman.

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by Inmem58

Melvin Benjamin should be added to that list WTF man

Kelvin. And I do not want.

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by Mother****erJones

As long as it's not an offensive lineman.

FYP

[planetdoc]

Originally Posted by OldSchool

I wonder why Reid and Dorsey decided to let Pitoitua go though,

me too.

Originally Posted by OldSchool

I thought he was a pretty solid player and he ended up playing really well for the Titans.

agree, though I dont think he played quite as well as a chiefs. I dont recall his run defense as being very good. With his size I would love to have paired him up with Poe in the chiefs 2 down lineman defenses (with Hali and Houston rushing).

Originally Posted by OldSchool

Catapano doesn't have the length that Clarke does. IMO, Clarke can become a very good 3-4 DE if he continues to fill out his frame and add more strength. He can immediately provide some pass rush depth as a rookie as well. Clarke's arms were longer than Hagemans.

Catapano is 6'3.7' with 33.75'' arms, while Clarke is 6'6'' with 34.6'' arms. Catapano had 19 sacks in college while Clark had 9.5. Clarke maybe bigger, but Catapano is likely the better pass rusher (though against a lower level of competition) and the better athlete.