The NFL Scouting Combine begins in 10 days, and over the eight days of the event, we (and all of the NFL’s coaches, scouts, and front offices) will learn a lot more that can maybe separate the talent at the top of the draft and put some players on radars they may not have previously been on.
It was a scant 34 years ago that a 21-year-old Brian Mitchell, a less-heralded running back from the University of Louisiana, went to the Combine and ended up helping himself into being a fifth-round pick of the then-Redskins that spring!
BMitch and JP Finlay were discussing how Athletes First is directing its prospects to not take cognitive tests in the pre-draft process, likely because CJ Stroud’s poor results leaked last year, and JP thinks it’s fair…and suffice to say Brian thinks they can be pretty useless in evaluating football ability.
“When I took the Wonderlic, it asked me nothing about football – it was like, what do you do if you’re driving and it starts raining?” Brian remembered. “And some of the stuff I knew nothing about, so just like all those tests like the ACT and SAT, they’re put in a way that works against certain people. If you’re asking me to do the 40, does it matter what I’d do if I was going down a rainy highway?”
JP invoked Jason Kidd’s basketball vision as an example of that, and DeMarcus Cousins’ ‘this ain’t no spelling bee’ comment before Kentucky played Cornell in the NCAA Tournament – and yeah, if you’re using one non-football test as a barometer, you’re looking at things wrong.
“I recognize you don’t want an idiot at quarterback, because there’s a lot of processing that goes on, but if they’re able to do it at a high level, that’s more important than a dumb test,” JP said.
“If you look at a guy play in college and he makes every throw, dos everything, and doesn’t get in trouble – you’re gonna take that one test to decide what you’re going to do with him?” BMitch replied. “It’s just like a lot of portions of the Combine. A lot of people don’t like doing it, because it’s not the best look. You have every piece of my tape, why do I have to stand on a stage in front of you with just my shorts on? That ain’t gonna tell you a damn thing about me playing football.”
BMitch then went on to recall how he ‘remembers every damn thing that was said to me that was stupid’ – and that’s why he always had a little extra motivation to play certain teams?
“A Steelers scout told me that I was always moving forward and wasn’t doing any dancing, and I was like, ‘well, what’s the problem with that?’ Brian remembered. “He told me I should have more wiggle, and I told him, ‘then go get yourself someone with more wiggle, because when you play against me, I’m gonna bust that ass.’”