Todd Bowles Not Much Of A Fan Of “Combine: The TV Show”
March 1st, 2024
Not a fan of combine drills.
There are two types of combines for the NFL. There is the combine that isn’t seen, other than coaches/suits being interviewed, and then there is the “Combine: The TV Show.”
The TV show is, in “this Joe’s” mind, a vapid indoor track practice that doesn’t mean anything if a guy can play football or not. As a result, “this Joe” pays zero attention to it.
(Go ahead and look at the best 40 times in combine history. Most of these guys — keyword: most — haven’t done jack in the league.)
Consider Bucs coach Todd Bowles not much of a fan of the “Combine: The TV Show.” Bowles is a football guy thus he watches football tape of football players playing football to find a football player.
Earlier this week at the epicenter beehive of the real combine, the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, Bowles spoke about how he approaches “Combine: The TV Show.”
“You’re not going to get a lot out of guys doing a whole bunch of drills,” Bowles said. “The film doesn’t lie. If a guy runs a 4.20 40[-yard dash]and I haven’t seen him on tape, I’m [going to] say that was fast, let me go back, and watch him.
“I’m not [going to] say I want him. I’m [going to] say let’s see how he plays. How he plays is the most important. The athleticism, what they do at the combine helps to see how versatile, or how stiff or non-stiff they are, but if the film does not show the speed or the film does not show the tenacity or tackling, the combine really doesn’t mean anything to me.”
Bowles sounds exactly like his old mentor Bill Parcells. The Hall of Fame coach had all but said the “Combine: The TV Show” was a waste of his time. However, Parcells said if a player did something that wasn’t on their radar in Indianapolis, the first thing he and his assistants and scouts would do would be to go back to the tape and try to find out what they missed, if they missed anything to begin with.
Parcells said his theory on scouting a player always began and ended with studying gametape.
Is it sort of cool when an NFL prospect runs a 4.2 like John Ross did a few years ago? Sure, if you are bored and not watching college basketball.
But as the great Warren Sapp once said about the combine, “You don’t pump weights on the 50-yard line.”
March 1st, 2024 at 4:12 am
I think some of the drills can help show how athletic these guys are, but like Bowles and our Draft Guru Mr. Sullivan, it all comes down to the tape. Speaking of, Joe, we need some more Best in Class podcasts! As well as more Ira, you guys have an interview with Spytek on deck right?
March 1st, 2024 at 5:43 am
I wonder if Todd watches the tape of his own pass defense making the same mistakes over and over and over and over. If so, I wonder what he thinks about that, maybe consider a root cause and perhaps drill corrective action into the players, or stop calling that particular coverage?
Naaa.
March 1st, 2024 at 6:06 am
No reason for the combine. Yes coaches should be studying all the tapes. Do the homework. The answers are right there, not at combine.
March 1st, 2024 at 6:45 am
NOT 100% TRUE
Zyon, Yaya, and CK all got scouted/drafted by the Bucs as a result of the freakish athleticism displayed at the combine. Zyon was super green so his tape couldn’t have been that impressive.
March 1st, 2024 at 7:47 am
To further on fastest 40 times every year, seems like more misses than hits.
2010 – Jacoby Ford – 4.28 seconds
2011 – DeMarcus Van Dyke – 4.28 seconds
2012 – Josh Robinson – 4.29 seconds
2013 – Marquise Goodwin – 4.27 seconds
2014 – Dri Archer – 4.26 seconds
2015 – Jakeem Grant – 4.38 seconds
2016 – Keith Marshall – 4.31 seconds
2017 – John Ross – 4.22 seconds
2018 – Donte Jackson and Denzel Ward and Parry Nickerson – 4.32 seconds
2019 – Parris Campbell and Andy Isabella – 4.31 seconds
2020 – Henry Ruggs III – 4.27 seconds
2021 – Eric Stokes – 4.29 seconds
2022 – Kaylon Barnes – 4.23 second
2023 – DJ Turner II – 4.26
March 1st, 2024 at 7:50 am
Probably THE most important part of the combine are the interviews. Not to be ignored though is a kids upbringing – is he a potential whack job or is his head on straight?
March 1st, 2024 at 8:00 am
Ding!
(And medicals.)
March 1st, 2024 at 8:59 am
Licht talked about the importance of the interviews, and Bowles talked about the drills not being useful to watch. So what is useful to do for Bowles? I hope he’s in the interview room! Some years, not so much this year, I hope he is talking to other coaches about their FA’s character.
Did anyone else notice Mauch in the BSPN ad for the draft?!
March 1st, 2024 at 9:54 am
Agree with Lt. Dan. The interviews are definitely a key part. Change the combine name, show player film highlights, and have them interviewed to tell their story.
March 1st, 2024 at 10:58 am
Don’t forget about Mark Dumbestnik’s brilliant cafeteria ploy. Only the best and brightest can pass that test.
March 1st, 2024 at 10:47 pm
Deion made this event with his legendary “walk off” 40. No one ever heard of a combine before that.