There seems to be 3 main measuring sticks to judge a player's future in the NFL: their college career, the combine and the Senior bowl (all-star game). Of them, the Senior Bowl is far and away the worst way to judge talent. It seems like a lot of posters on here put way too much into a player's performance in it. In a game where you only practice with your teammates for a week, you have several rules that don't apply in a regular game (like no blitzing) and schemes can only be planned to fit abilities to a certain extent.
On the other hand, it seems many are unwilling to give much credit to a player's actual abilities in a game. It seems kind of silly but when posters talk about a player's future they use their height or 40 time or shuttle time, or the most commonly used measurement is arm length. Then when we get past using somewhat meaningless measurements, people want to site their performance from an all-star game where they were matched up against another wannabe draftee.
My basic point is that if a kid can play the game, he can play the game. It's shocking that somebody would or wouldn't get drafted because of an inch of arm length or they are only 6'3" instead of 6'5". Russell Wilson got passed over because of his size. Elvis Dumervil slid because of his size. Hines Ward was too slow. Bret Favre had poor mechanics. Aaron Rodgers played in a non-traditional system. All these guys who were studs in college fell for perceived faults based on a stopwatch or a measuring stick or because gm's were afraid to pick a kid because of the style of offense he played in.
Granted, if you want a wr just for the role of being a deep threat, speed is ultra important. But when a kid is an awesome college football player, don't be scared off by something as minute as arm length or broad jump. Apparently a lot of talent evaluators would rather evaluate measurements and times rather than talent and heart.
Rant over. If you got this far, you're more patient than my own mom.
On the other hand, it seems many are unwilling to give much credit to a player's actual abilities in a game. It seems kind of silly but when posters talk about a player's future they use their height or 40 time or shuttle time, or the most commonly used measurement is arm length. Then when we get past using somewhat meaningless measurements, people want to site their performance from an all-star game where they were matched up against another wannabe draftee.
My basic point is that if a kid can play the game, he can play the game. It's shocking that somebody would or wouldn't get drafted because of an inch of arm length or they are only 6'3" instead of 6'5". Russell Wilson got passed over because of his size. Elvis Dumervil slid because of his size. Hines Ward was too slow. Bret Favre had poor mechanics. Aaron Rodgers played in a non-traditional system. All these guys who were studs in college fell for perceived faults based on a stopwatch or a measuring stick or because gm's were afraid to pick a kid because of the style of offense he played in.
Granted, if you want a wr just for the role of being a deep threat, speed is ultra important. But when a kid is an awesome college football player, don't be scared off by something as minute as arm length or broad jump. Apparently a lot of talent evaluators would rather evaluate measurements and times rather than talent and heart.
Rant over. If you got this far, you're more patient than my own mom.
