Taking A Look At Recent NFL Combine Standouts

The NFL Combine is attractive viewing because we like to watch the elemental power of the human body. Faster, higher, stronger. Just how far can we go as a species? The combine is the answer to that question within a certain segment of the population.

Way too many people — usually those who gab at your local pub or get paid to gab on local talk radio — use the numbers that come out of the combine to predict a player’s future in the NFL.

Instead of gleaning the most about a football player looking for a football-playing job by watching them actually play football, these prospective employees get run through a glorified physical fitness test, the results of which could either add or subtract millions of dollars from their bank account.

There are some teams (read: Raiders) that put too much weight into the overall value of the combine as well. So, what happens to these “Workout Warriors”? Here is a recap of the best performers in the top four combine events (40-yard dash, broad jump, vertical leap and bench press, in my opinion) over the past 10 years.

Screw the shuttle drills. There is a raw appeal to faster, stronger, higher. Agility is the offspring. Plus, no one ever watches in awe as someone runs around a series of small orange cones.

Notes: The lengths of the jumps and leaps will be presented in inches. Each player in the bench press does reps of 225 pounds, and the 40-yard dash, obviously, is presented in seconds.

On to the feats of athleticism!