The Combine is Stupid

For the record, I actually enjoy watching the NFL Combine. This makes me one out of about 12 people. However, I am really getting sick of how much stock the combine results get. Two examples.

Darren McFadden

Darren McFadden is awesome. He was a dominant force throughout college. He was almost universally discussed as the best player in this year's draft, and he was only a Junior. However, when the season ended, all the sudden questions began arising about him. Off the field trouble and leg strength were two of the complaints I heard. I even saw one Mock draft that had him dropping all the way out of the top 15 picks. Without playing a down, somehow his stock was plummeting. Then, the combine rolls around and McFadden runs a 4.33, and jumps out of the building on his Vert. All of the sudden, all of the questions are answered. I have two problems with this. First off, the questions were baseless and stupid in the first place. Second, how does his ability to run 40 yards fast, when we all knew he was fast in the first place, answer any of these questions?

Mike Hart

There have been questions about Mike Hart since High school. He is not big, and he went to a very small upstate New York high school. At this high school, he was able to set the NATIONAL rushing record, and single handedly lead his team to state championships three years running. I played the same class of football in New York as Mike Hart, so it is easy to see how he was so dominant. People wondered whether this ability would transfer to college, let alone Michigan. Well, Hart proved wrong any doubters, as he had a very productive college career. Going into this year's draft there are still questions about his size, but his productivity over the past four years seemingly put those to rest. Then he ran his 40...

OH MY GOD HE RAN IN THE 4.6 RANGE!!!!!!

All of the sudden, people are questioning Hart's draft stock. "I feel sorry for [Hart] because he's such a great guy," said a scout. "But he's 5-8 and 4.7. You can forget him." It is beyond my understanding how a player running two tenths of a second slower than desired can undo four years of success. Since when does running forty yards in a straight line have anything to do with your ability to run between the tackles? What good is running fast down the field when you cannot find a hole to run through?

Sure, the combines fun and all (for me and eleven other nerds), and it gives us some more stats to spew out when we have to try to justify the terrible pick our team made in the Draft, but I have to hope that NFL scouts are smart enough to disregard stupid numbers when game tape clearly indicates that an athlete can play.