Question about the pre draft process?

[J24]

So I been watching ESPN nfl football insiders  lately and they have been mentioning that a lot of the rookies are out of football shape when they come into OTAS and minicamp because there not prepared for football but they prepare for the combine & pro days.  It seems to me that the Pre Draft process isn't that beneficial to the players or the teams. So how would you improve it?

[SunsetBengal]

I think that I understand what you're getting at, but I'm not sure that changing anything about the pre-draft process will make a hill of beans, one way or the other.  Arriving to the team in shape is completely the responsibility of the player.  If a man wants to be a professional athlete, his body is his money maker. 

Besides, isn't that what the OTAs are all about?  Back in the day, they only had training camp.  As far as I can remember, the OTA process came about as a result of safety concerns for guys showing up for training camp, in the heat of late Summer, completely out of shape.

[Bengal Dude]

Like Sunset said, it's really up to the player to come into shape. Some of them continuously work up until the draft and then do very little to nothing afterwards. JaMarcus Russell comes to mind. He put in tons of work leading up to the draft in 2007, and then shut down when he was drafted.

[fredtoast]

I don't understand. If the players train hard for the combine and pro days wouldn't that keep them in shape?

From what I have seen most of these players train HARDER to get ready for the combine than they do playing college ball.

[Shepdawg]

I think the key is "football shape". In preparing for the draft, college players train to take a tenth of a second or two tenths off of their 40 times, adding 4-5 more reps to the 225 pound bench press, adding a few inches to their broad jump, etc. as this could mean the difference of a couple of rounds come draft day.

Training for the combine, pro days etc is a different type of training than training or the NFL. Different drills than football drills with NFL coaches. They're working with track guys, weight lifters etc.

Most college players are just beginning to learn how to train on a pro level. Even the top college programs cannot compare to what a player is facing for the first time when they arrive in a NFL training camp . It's not really surprising they arrive in training camp, in shape, but NOT necessarily in football shape.

[StLucieBengal]

(06-19-2015, 04:35 PM)J24 Wrote: So I been watching ESPN nfl football insiders  lately and they have been mentioning that a lot of the rookies are out of football shape when they come into OTAS and minicamp because there not prepared for football but they prepare for the combine & pro days.  It seems to me that the Pre Draft process isn't that beneficial to the players or the teams. So how would you improve it?

Because agents get them ready to run those combine drills instead of actual football. So they test well and get a better contract.

It's the agents fault they aren't in shape.

[fredtoast]

(06-25-2015, 10:36 PM)Shepdawg Wrote: Most college players are just beginning to learn how to train on a pro level.   Even the top college programs cannot compare to what a player is facing for the first time when they arrive in a NFL training camp .   It's not really surprising they arrive in training camp, in shape, but NOT necessarily in football shape.

They should know how to do it, but it has never been there full time job before.  In college you have a limited time to work out.  Once you become a professional athlete your entire day is built around work out and recovery time.  The amount of time you can work out effectively is limited by the amount of time you have to rest and recover.

[EatonFan]

You could have a pre contract requirement for them to workout after the draft. The closest strength coach of each team could be picked to monitor it spread out evenly for all teams. As far as pre-draft I think that process is fine. As several have stated most of the top performers work hard to show well enough to move their draft stock up.