Gig Em Gazette
Fansided

2017 NFL Combine 101: Explanation of Events, Schedule, and Streaming Links

By Grant Britton

Feb 29, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Texas A&M defensive back Brandon Williams (C) runs the 40 yard dash during the 2016 NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 29, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Texas A&M defensive back Brandon Williams (C) runs the 40 yard dash during the 2016 NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 5
Next
NFL Combine
Feb 24, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Texas A&M offensive lineman Germain Ifedi speaks to the media during the 2016 NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports /

Psychological/Medical

Interviews

These are how NFL scouts, GMs, coaches, and anyone else associated with the team who sits in, gets to know their prospect. Each team gets 15 minutes with up to 60 soon to be NFL players, and they delve into each player’s psyche. They ask all sorts of questions, and I would recommend taking a peak at the most interesting questions recorded via Sports Illustrated during the 2015 Combine.

Measurements and Medical Exams

Here players are measured from head to toe. Hand size, arm length, head size, every single measurement possible is useful to NFL teams. Some GMs and scouts value certain measurements over others, but there are some that are universally useful.

Arm length is one that is good to have for every position on the field. WRs can catch balls farther away, as can DBs, LBs can be ‘rangier,’ QBs can sling the ball over tall offensive and defensive linemen, and OL/DL can latch on to their shorter armed counterparts better with longer arms. Height and weight are also taken here.

The Wonderlic

For anyone who thinks NFL players are unintelligent, show them the Wonderlic test. The test is 50 questions over 12 minutes, and is very hectic. How hectic? Find out for yourself with this practice Wonderlic exam.

Tom Landry introduced the practice, as his Flex defense required a few more intelligence points than some others. The scores vary widely, with Ryan Fitzpatrick getting a 48/50, Steve Young getting a 33/50, and Vince Young getting a 6/50.

To make matters better (or worse depending on the score) a lot of the results have been made public over the years. See if you can find your favorite player on this list.