After a week of dissecting almost 300 players whose primary goal is to increase their NFL Draft attractiveness, the coaches, scouts and front office personnel of the 32 NFL teams go back home to digest the information and observations from the 2011 NFL Scouting Combine. Teams will begin assembling their War Room Draft Boards, and now the individual college's Pro Days will shortly begin to see some of the same players but a lot of other ones not invited to the Combine.
Do the results from the Combine really matter than much and will the teams be swayed by these mathematical figures as opposed to the body of work each player has on tape from what they did on the playing field over their college careers? Most people will downplay the Combine, but it is obvious that certain performances at the Combine will open eyes and sway team to elevate a player above what their videotape showed. Every year at the NFL Draft, there is a guy picked way above where he was expected to be drafted with the main reason why being his surprising numbers at the Combine, be it in one of two main tests, the 40-yard dash or the 225 pound bench press.
See an interesting take on the value of the NFL Scouting Combine by former scout and scouting director, Greg Gabriel of the National Football Post.