2016 Combine

I agree the real question is the permanence of what they learn. I know many NFL and other professional athletes include speed work as part of their offseason training.

I disagree that the training for the 40 is a waste time. I also disagree that kinesiology is fucking nonsense.

Cheers.

February 23, 2016

An Interview With:
NFL Network Analyst
MIKE MAYOCK

https://nflcommunications.com/PublishingImages/Pages/NFL-Network-Analyst-Mike-Mayock-2016-NFL-Scouting-Combine-Conference-Call----Transcript-and-Audio/Mike%20Mayock%20Combine%20Conference%20Call_2_23_1 6.pdf

Jumping straight to the Redskins:

Q. Scot McCloughan obviously had a great draft last year as his first year as the Washington Redskins' general manager. Can you kind of talk about where he could go at 21 overall, and also of course with Kirk Cousins being the quarterback, do you think he's actually the future and also if the Redskins could possibly take another quarterback in this draft?

MIKE MAYOCK: I do believe Kirk Cousins is the quarterback of the Redskins for the future, and I think a lot of that is that philosophically he aligns perfectly with what Jay Gruden wants to do. Yeah, I do believe he's the guy. Could they take a quarterback in the middle round? Absolutely they could take a quarterback in the middle rounds. Scot McCloughan and Jay Gruden are tied at the hip, which is the first and most important criteria. Their draft last year revealed who they are. Brandon Scherff was the first pick, big, tough guy; Preston Smith was the second pick, another big, strong, tough outside linebacker type guy; Matt Jones, a big, thick tailback.
Scotty McCloughan likes the bigger, tougher guys. That's who he wants to be, a big, physical team.
Now, at 21 I think one of the biggest needs is in that defensive line, and it's a defensive line draft. We've already talked about that. He could get defensive linemen second, third, even fourth round, so would he look beyond that knowing there's security in defensive linemen deep in the draft? Would he look at say a corner at 21? To me that is a possibility. He could sit there and say, huh, is this kid from Clemson worth it, Mackensie Alexander at 31, what about Eli Apple, what about Artie Burns. I think there's some interesting corners that would come into that conversation, also.

I also disagree that kinesiology is fucking nonsense.

Cheers.

no one is saying it is.

no one is saying it is.Suffice it to say we disagree, apparently very strongly on your part that training for the 40 is a waste of time. I'm truthfully not exactly sure what Schneed thought is fucking nonsense. But, we disagree. I didn't intend for the discussion take the turn it did and I apologize for my role there.

Anyhow here is some combine stuff:

Links to audiovault for Scotty and Jay:

ESPN 980 Audio Vault - Play Now (http://stationcaster.com/player_skinned.php?s=65&c=427&f=5287393)

5 Takeaways: Scot McCloughan At The Combine

5 Takeaways: Scot McCloughan At The Combine (http://www.redskins.com/news-and-events/article-1/5-Takeaways-Scot-McCloughan-At-The-Combine/e9f84562-0820-47fe-a59a-701c771801e4)

"This year we had 117 juniors come out, or underclassmen. Last year was 65. So that plays into it, too,” McCloughan said. “But that’s scary. That’s why it’s so important to be here and get measurable, get the medical, get the interview stuff with the juniors, the underclassmen. But it’s a strong draft, very strong.”



5 Takeaways: Jay Gruden At The Combine

5 Takeaways: Jay Gruden At The Combine (http://www.redskins.com/news-and-events/article-1/5-Takeaways-Jay-Gruden-At-The-Combine/88ef1c73-52e6-4886-898c-3190a1c2da9d)

“And he’s still in the process of thinking about it. I think he’s learning towards playing, I would guess right now. But we’ll have to wait and see. He’s put a lot of good years in. Body was a little bit beat up last year at the end of the year, but I think he’s starting to recover, feel a lot better so I think his mind will change a little bit as he gets closer to time to kick off.”

“Keenan finished off strong for us, was good in the locker room,” Gruden said. “But I think he’s going to hit free agency and probably land somewhere else.”

The writing was on the wall for Keenan and per Jay's comments re-signing him don't seem like a priority.

Whether it was injury and/or scheme Keenan did struggle. But man, Keenan is a talented dude...would love it if he could stick around and compete and hopefully make a leap forward next year and chalk up last season to slump.

Sounds like Hatch could be back, I'm all for that.

40 times don't tell you anything you can't already see by watching tape. When good scouts watch tape they can see who plays fast enough. They're not looking for who can reach a higher top speed in a straight line, they're looking for guys who get to spots faster than anybody else.

Let's say you're at the combine and you're expecting a LB to run a 4.9 and he runs a 4.6. All that should tell you is that maybe you need to go back and watch the guy's tape again. If he's faster than you thought at getting to spots, maybe you bump him up on your board. But if he's slow getting to the spots then you discount the 40 time as track-generated nonsense and leave him nice and low on your board.

In other words, the 40 time shouldn't be telling you anything you don't (or couldn't) already know.

"I'm looking for football players."
- Scot McCloughan

So you watch football games to find football players. The combine is stupid.

OK, stupid's too strong a word. It serves a purpose like I said in double checking what your first impression was when you watched tape.

I'll amend it to say "the combine is of very limited value to scouts."

And the interviews. That's very worthwhile, but the on field and drills are limited.

40 times don't tell you anything you can't already see by watching tape. When good scouts watch tape they can see who plays fast enough. They're not looking for who can reach a higher top speed in a straight line, they're looking for guys who get to spots faster than anybody else.

Let's say you're at the combine and you're expecting a LB to run a 4.9 and he runs a 4.6. All that should tell you is that maybe you need to go back and watch the guy's tape again. If he's faster than you thought at getting to spots, maybe you bump him up on your board. But if he's slow getting to the spots then you discount the 40 time as track-generated nonsense and leave him nice and low on your board.

In other words, the 40 time shouldn't be telling you anything you don't (or couldn't) already know.

"I'm looking for football players."
- Scot McCloughan

So you watch football games to find football players. The combine is stupid.

agreed. you exercised very well today...stock up. Small hands, stock down.

This is the type of bullshit that makes me laugh:

Arkansas QB Trying To Stretch His Lil' Baby Hands In Order To Boost Draft Stock (http://deadspin.com/arkansas-qb-trying-to-stretch-his-lil-baby-hands-in-ord-1761240625)

40 times don't tell you anything you can't already see by watching tape. When good scouts watch tape they can see who plays fast enough. They're not looking for who can reach a higher top speed in a straight line, they're looking for guys who get to spots faster than anybody else.

Let's say you're at the combine and you're expecting a LB to run a 4.9 and he runs a 4.6. All that should tell you is that maybe you need to go back and watch the guy's tape again. If he's faster than you thought at getting to spots, maybe you bump him up on your board. But if he's slow getting to the spots then you discount the 40 time as track-generated nonsense and leave him nice and low on your board.

In other words, the 40 time shouldn't be telling you anything you don't (or couldn't) already know.

"I'm looking for football players."
- Scot McCloughan

So you watch football games to find football players. The combine is stupid.

I would suggest it also works in reverse. If a guy plays like 4.6 but times out at 4.9, perhaps you go back and see if the level of competition or scheme was making him look better. If so, maybe you knock him back a round or two.

Same principle though. Look at the tape. Confirm what you see with measurables. When the two are out of whack, adjust accordingly (which may include no adjustment).

Also, just read recently that invitees are getting very savvy about the interview process and that, because of that, it is harder and harder to get good information out of this once very useful evaluation tool.