Should the Senior Bowl or the Combine Workouts Matter?

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Originally Posted by Sheriff Gonna Getcha

I love to watch the Senior Bowl and the combine workouts, but do they really matter? Each year players watch their draft stocks rise and fall based on the Wonderlic, 40-times, etc. Take, for example, Terrell Suggs. Terrell Suggs was thought to be a top five selection in the 2003 draft, but slid down to the Ravens because of slow 40 times in pre-draft workouts. Vince Young's draft stock might have slipped a few spots due to his Wonderlic score (a wildly inaccurate predictor of football acumen). Players are now so polished up before player interviews at the Combine that I don't think that 10 minute player interviews can be that meaningful.

In my mind, the Senior Bowl is almost totally worthless as a scouting tool since it provides such a small "sample" and is a game involving very basic schemes, new coaches, and new teammates. The combine seems almost as useless. I would think that, save the medical examination portion of the combine, it too has minimal value.

Obviously I am not a scout, so would someone please explain how they are useful and why a player's draft stock can ascend or plummet so rapidly?

It's nice to see a guy play in a game coached by NFL teams, and see how he can play in those schemes.

But unless you are Jon Gruden or Mike Nolan, I don't think you've learned very much. You're spot on that a one game sample says very little when compared to 3-4 years of college film and statistics. Those things have to be the driving force behind a player's stock, not his workout numbers.