How the NFL Combine drills do and don’t matter for offensive linemen

Earlier this week, I detailed what it was like to go through the two most important (and awkward) days of the NFL Combine. Measurements, medical tests, and all the interviews happen over the first two full days of the event. After that, we finally get to the main attraction for the fans — drum roll — the on-field workouts.

The workouts consist of testing and field drills for your position. There are nine total tests, with eight of them being performed on the final day. Only the bench press is tested before the field workout.

The eight drills are:

Gil Brandt, new Hall of Famer and former longtime scout for the Cowboys, tweeted out a chart for the measurables he used to evaluate each position for these tests. As you watch the drills through the weekend, make sure to keep this chart nearby.

Well, to put it simply, they test speed and agility, which are obviously two valuable traits needed to play in the NFL.

The combine testing numbers are just a data point within the larger evaluation process. I’ve always believed your combine numbers help you double check what you’ve seen on film, especially for the skill position players.

If you’re evaluating a skill position player and you notice he’s a burner on the field, you’d expect him to put up good numbers at the combine. If that player runs slow, then you must head back to the film to find out if this player is game-speed fast, or maybe runs fantastic routes, or has awesome instincts.

The opposite can be true. Someone looks slow on film but has fantastic numbers at the combine. It would force you to head back to the film and find out why. Does that player lack game speed or instincts? Does he not give effort? Maybe he’s only fast in a straight line but slow moving laterally.

Lastly, the numbers can validate opinions based off the film. A slow player runs slow at the combine, then yes, he is slow. So that’s how I’d use the numbers to evaluate skill position players.

There are those who swear the combine means nothing for offensive linemen, but I’ll push back a bit. The 10- and 20-yard splits show explosion and quickness off the ball. The short shuttle and three-cone drills are great indictors of lateral quickness and agility.

Just look at this chart by Josh Norris of Rotoworld showing the best offensive line times in the 20-yard shuttle since 2010. That’s the one drill that seems to matter the most.

However, people who evaluate offensive linemen fall into the trap of looking at the combine and putting too much stock into the results. It happens most often when evaluators look at excellent combine numbers and project the player’s NFL potential on these numbers while ignoring all the signs of possible failure from the film.

As I’ve said — or maybe screamed — for years now, offensive line is the position hit toughest by the lack of practice time. Developing a player with high upside just doesn’t happen often because there’s no time to practice. You shouldn’t be in the business of using strong combine numbers to validate your opinion that you can draft a high-upside player over a player who’s ready now with just average combine numbers.

Most recently it happened last season with Orlando Brown. While I wasn’t as high on Brown as most based on his film, he had a bad combine. He ran slow and was heavy. Both of those were concerns of mine heading into the combine. Then he did poorly and it just backed up my assessment of him. I should have gone back to the film and studied him more. Instead, I just let his combine numbers stand alone.

He started 40 straight games at left tackle for Oklahoma, which constantly produces high-level NFL offensive linemen. He’s a physical player who dominated good opponents. Instead of thinking about all the positives about his play, I used the combine to validate my negative opinions. Bad call by me. He was drafted by the Ravens and played solid football for a rookie.

Don’t let this happen to you. Watch the film. Evaluate offensive linemen by the film. Use the combine as a data point in that evaluation. But don’t let it be the evaluation.