2012 NFL Scouting Combine.

So I got an e-mail today (keepingthechainsmoving@live.co.uk) asking me if I was going to watch the NFL scouting combine live (which starts tomorrow) and report back as I have done the last couple of years. The answer to that is; no, f**k no, and "are you f**king insane?".

Anyone that thinks I'm going to subject myself to that horsesh*t again is betting on a guaranteed loss. The NFL Networks coverage of the combine is brutally frustrating. If you've never tried it then I highly recommend it, if only because it will convince you that the idea of the NFL Network ever being allowed to cover all the leagues games in future is an absolute disaster waiting to happen.

The coverage looks like its being directed by a five year old. They continually cut away from the field drills, which are kind of the most important part of any scouting trip, in order to show us two idiots sitting at a table on commentary somewhere, just because some other idiot who has been repeatedly fired from various GM jobs due to sh*t drafting has now joined them.

Then we have the joy that is the interrupting of the field drill coverage to show a graphic of some question asked by Billy McDouchebag on twitter or some sh*t, usually the kind of question that most normal people could figure out for themselves. Quite why the NFLN feels the need to linger on this graphic or even show it all instead of just having one of the commentary team read it out is beyond me.

Then comes the unadulterated joy of a player who you are very much interested in getting stuck behind one of the big names on the order for running the drills. What follows is that Mr.Big Shot will run the drill, and then you miss the next player on the list because the NFLN is busy showing replays of the big shot which could have been saved till later, for example during the break in between drills.

Of course any sane individual would see the opportunity to run commercials and show replays in such breaks of the on field action, as that is when the staff are setting up the next drill and the lead coach is explaining the drill to the players. That of course would require a modicum of common sense, something that the NFLN team lacks completely.

Finally we get to the ever hilarious moments when the director doesn't know which camera angle to use to best catch the action, instead flicking between them in a semi-random order until the final two or three players are up, by which point he finally has the sequence figured out. Any normal production crew would naturally have thought about this before hand and planned out where they needed to place all the cameras and done a few practice runs so they could figure out when and where to switch cameras to get the best shots, but the NFLN don't let silly things like standard TV production protocols get in the way.

All in all it's a TV experience akin to stabbing yourself in the hand repeatedly with a pen in order to induce the maximum possible distraction at the most important moments.

So it is that this year I plan to spend the day studying the college players in their more natural surroundings, that is watching their college games. I'm going to steal the list of players off the NFL.com site for each day and then spend it pouring through the video of football players actually playing football.

Perhaps if more pro scouts and top draft pundits had done this last year then people wouldn't have whiffed so badly on their assessments of Blaine Gabbert, who spent most of his college career quite visibly shying away from three man rushes and throwing nothing complete past 10 yards.

I'll report back my initial findings each day, though I concede it's only going to be a sort of "first impressions" look.

NFL Combine, Day Four round up

I'm now sitting down to watch Day Four of the NFL Combine. In front of me I have my score sheet. To my left I have a big mug of coffee. On the other side I have some live electrodes connected to a wall socket, which I plan to attach to my balls every time I need a break from the pain that is the NFL Network. And another thing: Many players are wearing a mouth guard developed by Under Armor that apparently aids with balance. Yeah. Okey dokey. And another thing: I love the way people are talking about the new Under Armor shirt like a heart rate monitor is some huge revolution in fitness. "What? You mean we can monitor heart rates? What is this Demon magic you speak of?". A fool and his money are easily parted. Just ask Al Davis (Oooh that was low). And another thing: I haven't watched any of the drills yet, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that our viewing of the drills will be interrupted on a regular basis by replays of Prince Amukamara. And another thing: Didn't see that one coming. I thought we might be destined for a replay interruption, but instead what we got was a Deion Sanders interruption, as they went down to the field to show us Sanders walking about. I must admit, it was well worth not showing us the drill for that. Oh wait, no it wasn't. But this isn't a knock on Sanders. He doesn't control the cameras and as you can imagine he is well versed in the technical finer points of playing defensive back. Except maybe tackling. And another thing: There we go, Amukamara replay break time. Why do they need to show us a replay of someone messing up the drill? Jesus. This is the first fucking drill and I'm already staring at those electrodes... And another thing: First advert break of the day. If they'd waited about 3 fucking minutes or so, we wouldn't have had to miss half a drill for the sake of the adverts. And another thing: We just saw a replay of what was, admittedly, a great catch. But it was apparent from listening to Rich Eisen talking that he couldn't care less about the catch. It was all about the "look at our great 'NFL in focus' camera's. Look at the great replays we can show you". Get stuffed. Show me the players, not your damn replays. And another thing: Another ad break already? You just had one like 5 minutes ago? Fuck off! And another thing: One of my favourite DB drills is on, so naturally this is a perfect time to interrupt the coverage so we can fill the screen with an inane question from some douchebag on Facebook. Seriously NFL Network, JUST READ THE FUCKING QUESTION OUT!! You don't need to fill the screen with a graphic. Am I the only person on the planet watching this and thinking that? And another thing: I'm calling the FBI or some organisation in the states that can handle with cross state and international fraud. Because that's what this is. The NFL Network calls it full and exclusive coverage of the NFL Combine. What it actually is, is just a way for the Network to pander to the top 5 guys at each position, so their analysts can then spend the whole season talking about how clever they were to predict the high draft picks and their resulting success. This is such bullshit. And another thing: There are some guys coming up in the drill who I was interested in watching. But no, we have to head over immediately to the vertical jump to watch Patrick Peterson doing his jump. Fuck off. Just record the jump and play it back to us later when you have a chance, you know, like a normal broadcaster would do. Imagine if NBC cut away during the middle of a live play on a Sunday Night Game just to show us a replay of a someone jumping or making a tackle. It wouldn't happen, because nobody at NBC is that fucking stupid. And another thing: Prince Amukamara is about to step up and do a drill so naturally the talking heads are inflating him big time. My money says he shits out on this drill..... ah he did ok. Fuck. On second thoughts though, they're bitching that he didn't finish the drill fast so maybe we'll call it evens. And another thing: I still don't understand why they need to cut away from the action to talk about a player. Just because you're handing over from one commentary team to another, doesn't mean we have to see their faces. It's not like we're going refuse to believe it's them talking until we see their faces or anything. It's tiring and boring to have to keep putting up with this crap. I don't expect the combine to be special or anything. I'm not asking for something fancy. I don't expect it to be like the Super Bowl. All I want is to just be able to watch all the players going through the drills without all the constant fucking interruptions. Is that really so much to ask? I mean Jesus, this is just absolutely fucking ridiculous. And another thing: A cameraman just got clocked on the sidelines and that brings up an issue that bugs me. Given that modern cameras, both of the video and still shot variety, have such powerful lens's now, why in the hell do they need to be positioned so closed to the game, where they often get in the way and pose a serious hazard to players who go out of bounds? Move 'em back. And another thing: I was watching it all online, so I had the choice between two different feeds, but people watching on TV I presume were forced to watch the one feed. In that case, while I was watching Group 11 go through their drills, people watching on the TV were forced to watch Rich Eisen run the 40 yard dash. Now no offense, I think it's actually pretty funny watching him lumber down the track, but that's why I watched the video clip uploaded on NFL.com. If I was watching the TV feed, I would be pissed off that I missed drills in favour of that 6 minute fiasco. It just goes to show what I was saying the other day about TV networks believing that they're coverage is more important than the actual product on the field. What level of arrogance does it take to ignore the actual reason for the combine being held (I.E. assessment of the young draft prospects) just so you can show one of your presenters running a 40 yard dash? It's just absolutely fucking ridiculous. Couldn't they have just waited until the DB's were done and then shown it? Man, you have to love yourself something special to pull that off. Just arrogance in the complete extreme. Personally I'd be embarrassed if I knew we were missing drills just to watch me run the 40. And another thing: A drill has just been running for about 2 or three minutes before the directors finally got the hang of which cameras to switch to and the timing of the switches. Question; how many years has the NFL Network been covering the combine now? How long did the Network have to plan and prepare their shots? Professional film crews are expected to turn up at a site and have everything set up and ready to shoot in less than a day, with a minimal degree of pre-planning and scouting of the site. So why the fuck does the NFL Network not have this covered? On the flip side, they never miss a beat with their stage shots, obviously hinting at where their priorities lay in the run up to the combine. And another thing: One of my favourite drills is up, so it must be time to dick about filling the screen with another pointless facebook question graphic, followed by whoring the screen time with replays of Prince Amukamara. I understand; fuck the little guys, who cares about them? As long as we get our allocation of Amukamara replays, all is well. And another thing: You have to love the way that nobody seems to have any control over the sound, so we get cross overs of a coach explaining a drill, along with the sound of one of the players spitting somewhere else, and the sound of two crew members standing around talking about where they should be set up, all at the same time. Hire a fucking competent sound editor for Christ sake. Well, it's over now. I didn't have to resort to electrocuting myself. It would have made little difference, my brain was fried already. Thank God this thing only comes round once a year and only lasts four days. If it was any more I'd snap. So let's take a look then, starting with... Group 10 - Defensive Backs: -- Curtis Brown. Had a great time on the drills. Impressive -- Kendric Burney. There were moments when I thought he wavered, but was above average overall. -- Chris Conte. Very good. Worked hard, cut well, quick feet. -- Vance Cuff. Stole Group 10 easily. Each drill he looked perfectly at home, like it was routine. Worked hard and was smooth as silk throughout. -- Brandon Harris. Did ok. Put on an above average show. -- Will Hill. Ditto the above. -- Shiloh Keo. Awesome to watch. Not quite as flawless as Cuff, but absolutely busted his balls off during each drill and looked hungry. Very impressive display. -- Prince Amukamara was in this group. He looked about average. Group 11 - Defensive Backs: -- Joe Lefeged. Did ok. I'm gonna say average, but with the caveat that this group did much better overall than Group 10, especially at the high end, so the average standard here was much higher. -- Mark Legree. Slightly above average display. -- Rahim Moore. Very good. Consistently one of the best performers in the group. -- Johnny Patrick. Average for the group. -- Patrick Peterson. Clearly marked himself above Amukamara on most draft boards after this. Very good. -- Justin Rogers. Average for the group. -- Kevin Rutland. Slightly above average. -- Tyler Sash. Pretty good. Appeared to take some of the drills a little easy (a common problem on the day) but overall did well. Bagged himself a cameraman hit. -- Da'Norris Searcy. Weird name, very good show. Consistently above average. -- David Sims. Outstanding one hand catch and good overall. -- Buster Skrine. Apparently did a sub 4.3 40 (too lazy to check). Was very good on the field. Quick feet. -- Josh Thomas. My king of the Group and the day. Excellent performance. Ridiculous foot speed, great agility, great ball skills, smooth and hard working. Superb. -- Brandyn Thompson. Average for the group. -- Devon Torrence. Quietly did very well. With all the talent on display I'm worried he got lost in the mix, but he definitely stood out to me. Among the top five of an excellent group. -- Nate Williams. Would make the top 5 as well. Overall very good display. Right, that's your combine done. What now? Well, for the teams it's time to go back to film rooms across the country and start pouring over the tape once more. Is Prince Amukamara really as good as what people previously thought? Is Cam Newton in fact an over hyped running back? What about some of the lesser known guys? Time to dig out three game tapes and give them another, closer look. For me it's much the same. Time to start working back through the list, comparing what I see in games to notes from the combine. Is Josh Thomas really as good in pads as he was in shorts? Do his game instincts match up to that excellent foot speed, or does a lack of awareness prevent him from putting his physical skills to good use? We'll see. But first it's time for me to crash out for a day or two and have a break. Then I'll be back with preview series again, this time heading around the AFC teams. Hopefully the labor crisis will last just long enough for me to get that whole series in, then resolve itself with plenty of time to spare before the start of major off season camps etc. Till next time, thank you all for stopping by and having a read. Just don't go electrocuting your balls....

NFL Combine, Day 3 round up

So I've been watching the drills for about 3 minutes and already I'm getting annoyed at the constant replays of Nick Fairley. I get the distinct impression that the NFL Network gives less of a shit about showing players work out as it does about showing off the fact that they have high speed cameras that can do super slow-mo replays. Dickheads. And another thing: Honestly, I'm getting sick and fucking tired of watching replays of someone who did the drill well. I understand to a degree that you're showing what a "good run" through the drill looks like, but what use is that when we miss half the fucking guys going through the drills because of replays? And another thing: Adrian Clayborn and Nick Fairley look good on game day, I'm not disputing that. But so far they've looked very uncomfortable in the early drills. That's not a huge issue in itself. What is a huge issue is the commentary team fawning over the pair of them and talking about great hips and bending etc, when they're clearly struggling more than some others during the drill. Clayborn looked positively slow and sloppy moving between the bags. Yet despite that he was used for a replay where Rich Eisen described him as something like "a bull in a phonebooth", I didn't catch it clearly. I'm guessing that's supposed to mean good, which is surprising given the fact that the slow-mo replay clearly shows Clayborn having poor footwork through the drill. Lucky he kicks butt on the football field really (Clayborn I mean, not Eisen). And another thing: Now we're missing a ton of guys running drills. Why you ask? So we can have a close up of Robert Quinn breathing. Yeah, exciting shit. I can't wait till they start filming him while he listens to his iPod. It promises to be intense. And another thing: Every time that a drill ends it takes time to pick up the bags, move them around and to then show the players how to perform the next drill. Or as it's otherwise known, a ready made advert break. So my question then is this; why does the NFL Network keeping going to breaks in the middle of the drills and showing replays as well, when they could be doing that in the interim period between drills? It's just absolute fucking amateur hour production. It shows clear signs of a lack or foresight and planning, combined with a drivelling sense that the crew believes that people are tuning in solely because of their fancy cameras and informed presenters, as opposed to the fact that, you know, only 1 network is allowed to cover the combine live and in full. And another thing: Awesome. Michael Lombardi is back on set. I'll tell you what, how about we divert the cameras away from the on field action so we can watch a bunch of guys in suits sitting around talking shit on the sidelines? I thought you'd like that idea. Jesus. I've just never known sports coverage like this. If it was an independent contractor (let's just say ESPN) providing such shitty coverage, then their contract would be in serious danger of not being renewed. And another thing: Thanks to the damn replays, I missed Mark Herzlich going through the bags. Fucking joke. And another thing: Thanks to the NFL Networks whoring of replays of Von Miller (who is having a shit-tastic time on the drills by the way) I just missed watching number 22 Jonas Mouton who I thought did well in the previous drill and I was looking forward to seeing. I don't even know why they bother. Why not just admit from the first second of broadcast that they're only interested in a few select players and knock on the head any fucking pretence that this is about giving the public a chance to watch all the prospects in action. And another thing: I've just heard the biggest pile of fucking bullshit that I've heard in years. Jim Mora jr. is on as an analyst and he just proclaimed that thanks to the NFL Network he wouldn't have to come to the combine if he was a coach. Rich Eisen then chimed in and said that a number of coaches (who he refused to name) had told him they were thankful of the coverage. That's utter junk. If, like me, they're interested in giving every player a fair shot at an evaluation then they'd much rather be in the stands at Indy, than sitting at home watching this God forsaken pile of dog shit that the NFL Network calls "coverage". And another thing: Again, I just missed seeing Jonas Mouton because of another fucking replay of Von Miller. At least these time Miller looked good. But now link this back to the point above. A coach watching the combine on TV would have missed most of Mouton's work and wouldn't be able to give him a decent evaluation. And another thing: Not fucking a minute later and we're now missing more guys in the drills so the NFL Network can show us a replay of one of the coaches using their super slow-mo camera. Who fucking cares about the coach? What the fuck? Is the director twelve years old? And the NFL Network bitches about TV providers not carrying their network. On this basis I'd say those companies are doing their subscribers a favour. And another thing: Oh look, adverts in the middle of a drill, despite the fact that we could have had these about 5 minutes ago when they were switching between stations. I'm not sure how many other people do this, but as a point of principle I refuse to watch these adverts in my own, largely pointless protest. And another thing: Cutting away from the drills? Why? To introduce a new talking head into the booth. How very fucking important that is? I mean seriously, does nobody on the team understand that fans don't really give a fuck what presenter you've just put in the booth. We want to see the action on the field for crying out loud. And another thing: I'm considering billing the NFL Network for the loss of a pen that I just hurled across the room in frustration. I was waiting for a particular player to come around and have his turn on the drill, when they cut away. What for this time? To show me Lovie Smith sitting in the stand. Fucking sweet. Just the way he looked at his notes, it was awesome. And another thing: I love the a) incoherent way that the NFL.com feed switches between the two separate feeds and b) bears little resemblance to the schedule laid down. And another thing: Another ad break in the middle of the linebacker drills. Sweet. Pricks. And another thing: It's Von Miller replay time once more! Newsflash, regardless of how good he is on the field, he's been piss poor during the combine drills. This seems to be something of a running theme for the NFL Network. Pick a player who is pretty well known and then play back his run through the drills, while desperately trying to put the best spin on it possible to cover up for the fact that you're wasting air time with a replay of someone doing shit in a drill. Right, thank fuck that's over. When I'm done here I might just go hammer some nails into my eye balls in order to relax. It's definitely a first in my experience. Until now I never thought it was possible to make a sports broadcast that fans of the sport would get annoyed with and not enjoy. Jesus. Anyway, on with the feedback, starting with Group 7, D-linemen: -- Ugo Chinasa, Oklahoma St. scored surprisingly well by my book. On the day I have him as joint with Adrian Clayborn for the quality of his drill work. Prett strong kid. -- Uh guess what? Adrian Clayborn was pretty good. Didn't start all that well, but recovered. -- Nick Fairely was one of the top guys, as you might expect. The complete case for him moving to the top of draft boards is quickly building. -- Cameron Jordan did ok I thought. He didn't set the world alight, but he was reasonably good. -- But the winner of Group 7 was, for me, Chris Carter from Fresno State. I have him as my highest rated performer in Group 7. Maybe a little under weight, but technically he looked pretty sound. Group 8, D-linemen: -- Cliff Matthews had a great workout. Very fluid, great footwork, great determination. I haven't seen any tape of this kid, but if it's half as good as his combine showing then it'll be a treat. -- Take all of the above and transplant that down to Terrell McClain, who I thought was one of the real stand outs from Group 8. Very, very impressive. -- Dontay Moch was another good shower. Perhaps not to the level of Matthews and McClain, but good. -- Drake Nevis did pretty well. Confirmed what I've seen on film. Physically strong. -- Brooks Reed. I've got so many stars next to this guys name. He worked his butt off during the drills and reaped the rewards with a strong showing. Great feet. -- Phil Taylor from Baylor can certainly move for a dude that weighs 334 pounds. Earned my respect with his performance. -- Muhammad Wilkerson did Temple proud with his effort. Just went all out right from the start and thoroughly deserves to have teams go back and give him a much closer look on film. Group 9, Linebackers: -- Akeem Ayers was flyign through the drills like a race car, but I was a little unsure about his footwork. Speed to burn though, in shorts at least. -- Nick Bellore racked up a few stars with his footwork, change of direction, ball skills and work rate. -- Mason Foster. Had a pretty solid showing. -- Mark Herzlich. Finally managed to seem some of the kid and he was ok. Didn't leap out. -- Ross Homan was a man on a mission. I give him a ton of credit for his drill work. Another guy who earned a second (or in my case, first) look. Very good. -- Greg Jones put in a similar show to Herzlich and Foster. Solid overall. -- As I've already mentioned, the supposed star of the day was Von Miller. Honest opinion? He looked like crap out there. -- Mike Mohamed on the other hand looked very good. Up there with Homan on the stars scale. -- In the end I got to see plenty of Jonas Mouton. He turned out average. -- Brian Rolle showed some flashes. Pretty quick, but looked a little unbalanced at times. -- Kelvin Sheppard did ok. Worth a slightly closer look. -- Quan Sturdivant of Noth Carolina, I have a question for you. Why do all the good players have such inconveniently difficult names to spell and remember? Whatever the answer, I won't be forgetting this name in a hurry. Outstanding in the drills, top marked linebacker for me. -- James Thomas of West Virginia did pretty well. -- Finally, Martez Wilson and K.J. Wright both put in above average showings. Take that for what you will. So another day of torture is done. Just one left as the defensive backs take to the field. Just looking back at the number of guys I've picked out over the last few days, either a) the depth of talent is a lot higher this year, b) I'm getting more generous with my grades or c) I'm getting better at picking out the good ones. I'm inclined to roll with either A or B. At least one good thing has come out of all this. Now I can ask people if they enjoy the NFL Networks coverage of the combine, and if they say "yes" I know that a) they don't love football and b) there is a good chance that they're clinically insane. Now to finish, a request. Nay, this is more of a plea. If you're reading this then share it with everyone you can, because a) I could really use the extra pageviews right now and b) hopefully someone will read this who is in a position to do something about the NFL Networks shitty combine coverage. Enjoy day four of the combine everyone. Try not to smash your TV in frustration.

NFL Combine, Day 2

I'll start with a rant and a moan. Then I'll talk players. Ok, so you clearly knew that being the sucker I am that I would sit down and watch the QB/WR/RB workouts. For that I received my vindication. Mike Mayock. God bless that man for the rest of his life. Part of the way through the on field drills (Group 4), Group 5 were busy doing there measurables (Broad Jump etc), when the action cut away to show Cam Newton stepping up to do his jump. Before he did, he just needed to tie his laces, which was when Mike got in this line which sums the whole thing up; (Sarcastically) "Let's not miss Cam tying his shoes now fellas!" Rich Eisen jumped immediately to the defense of the production team, trying to make it out as if Mayock was being highly unreasonable and in the end Mayock gave a rather unconvincing "I'm just teasing". But my question is this; couldn't somebody have just pressed record when Newton jumped and then just played that tape back later during a break in the field drills? This is precisely what I was talking about yesterday. Since when did the NFL Network become a vehicle just for promoting just the top stars? Did Newton's Dad slip the director a few dollars? What the fuck? Listening to Eisen crying because Mayock said what a lot of people are thinking was sickening. Maybe guys like Eisen may not give a shit about the little players and are only interested in the big name stars, but I for one would like to have the chance to see everyone work out. And another thing: The quality of the feed sucks balls. The live feed is at 6 hours and 40 minutes now, whereas I'm starting back at the 2 hour 9 minute mark, so my question is thus; why isn't the fucking stream loading?!! When you watch a video on YouTube, the rest of the video loads while you watch to avoid the damn thing from constantly halting. But not here. Oh no. Not the fucking NFL. I just don't get it. I mean they're an $8 billion per year revenue generating machine for Christs sake, and you're telling me they can't even keep up to date with current technology? What the hell bunch of ass clowns are running this show? What modern broadcast company can't even be fucked to invest in the state of the art video tech? Answer; The NFL Network. What a fucking joke. And another thing: I was watching the QB's work out and they switched to a camera angle where we couldn't see the damn receivers or the ball placement. Then about a minute later as they switched to the start of a new drill (throwing the out routes) Mayock, God love him, wondered aloud if we would get the angle where we could see both quarterback and receiver. The man is brilliant. And another thing: Just as the drill was getting good, just as Mike Mayock and Sterling Sharpe were getting into their flow, and just as the crew had finished dicking about with their cameras to get the right angle (didn't think of planning that out before the combine started? No, didn't think so) .... they cut from the feed to show us Charley fucking Casserly, probably the last person on Earth I wanted to see at that moment, who had just joined Bucky Brooks and Paul Burmeister. My question goes thus; why? Who the fuck cares which dick-wad presenter you've just brought into your broadcast booth? I just want to watch the drills. I just want to watch the fucking action. You know, that stuff that the combine is all about? Fuck. It's like pulling out your own teeth trying to watch this crap. I hope the advertisers are watching. At least maybe they have the power to influence someone and stop them dicking about. And another thing: Is it really fucking necessary (to keep swearing so much?) to keep cutting away from the rest of the group 5 quarterbacks just so we can watch yet another replay of Cam Newton throwing? Jesus Christ. NFL Network must be raising money on the side by acting as an agent for Newton. And another thing: The players got into a rhythm and started to rack up the successive completions. At that point the NFL Networks love child, Cam Newton, started yelling out "pressure" (or something) every time a receiver started his route. This brings up two issues for me a) that Newton has zero awareness of fact that everyone else is competing for a job and don't have the press on their side to help them get a a top ten pick, and b) why did none of the coaches on the field say anything, like for example "shut the fuck up"? And another thing: I just missed out on a ton of running back drills. Guess why? That's right. Cameron fucking Newton, interview of. I hate that guy already. And another thing: We just missed a whole bunch of running backs going through a drill. Why? So Paul Buremeister and Bucky Brooks could look at Brook's and Mike Mayock's top 5 list of defensive tackles, ahead of tomorrow. I mean what the fuck? This is getting ridiculous. The sheer level of utter incompetence and lack of forward planning among the production crew is reaching epic proportions, and this is only day 2. Honestly, this is a pathetic shambles. I just can't wrap my head around it. It's like when someone asks you "when did time begin?" or something like that. It's just beyond human comprehension. Our brains and our understanding of the universe are not sufficiently developed yet to be able to figure out how someone could fuck up something so simple, so badly. And another thing: The running backs are running a passing drill. Except instead of focusing on the backs, we get a close up of the QB throwing them the ball, even though the guy is just standing there casually chucking the balls out. What the hell? Am I missing something? I was under the impression that showing the combine live was about giving us the chance to watch all the prospects? Is the combine purely designed to show off the NFL's favourites? Is it designed to aim at the lowest common denominator, the fan boys? This is chronic. And another thing: I don't believe it. After the interruption above we watched about three guys go through the drills before they then went to a graphic because "Ian.M" had asked a question on facebook. Maybe Ian. M should pay more fucking attention during the season, then he wouldn't have to ask whether scouts view heavy carry loads in college to be a problem. Like I said yesterday, could they not have just read out the question, without having to have a full screen graphic display? You couldn't intentionally make the coverage this bad. In fact, I give up for the day. It's a hopeless fucking task. Let's just look at the names and who stood out: From the Group 4 quarterbacks and receivers: -- Andrew Dalton really impressed me. Now I know what you're thinking; who the hell is Andrew Dalton? But of the QB's in his group he was easily the smoothest and looked the most comfortable doing the drills. His footwork was picture perfect. -- Ryan Mallett was pretty good once more. I still don't understand how Jake Locker and Cam Newton are rated over this guy, purely because they can run. They may be able to run, but Mallett can throw, and throw well. -- Randall Cobb is one of those names you won't hear much about, but the kid is good. I've had my eye on Cobb for a while now and I thought he did really well at the combine. Not famous enough to get people fawning over him though. After all, he played at lowly Kentucky. -- A.J. Green was getting all the hype, and to be fair it was well earned. He looked very good all throughout the drills. A pretty safe pick in the making (he says....) -- Jamel Hamler anyone? Fresno State? No? Well remember that name. I have a feeling he's going to be a later round steal and he was my highest rated WR of the day. -- Leonard Hankerson also caught the eye. I'll admit freely that these evaluations are highly subjective, but he seemed very controlled throughout. Maybe another to watch. From Group 5 QB's and WR's: -- Let's get this out of the way right now. Cam Newton sucked. That has nothing to do with the NFL Network pandering to him all day long, and everything to do with him looking like a running back that used to play quarterback in high school. His timing was chronic (he blamed the receivers, naturally) and just when the NFL Network guys were bigging up his long ball throwing skills, he dropped a turd (actually three turds in a row). No way first round quality. -- Christian Ponder did well. Unfortunately he came right after Newton in the drills, so we missed quite a bit of his performance due to Netwon replays. But combined with what I've seen on film, Ponder is looking like a sneaky steal. -- Ricky Stanzi didn't hurt his stock with his showing. Some good, some bad, but the bad wasn't that bad and the good was pretty good, if you see what I mean. -- Tyrod Taylor, see above. -- Taylor Yates, see above. -- Jeff Van Camp from Florida Atlantic. I have to confess, I know a bit about college football, more than most this side of the pond, but even I was like "Florida Atlantic? Who?". But maybe I'll have to start paying more attention to them, because I had Van Camp as my number one QB on the day. Hardly put a foot wrong, threw accurately and with good timing. Excellent display. -- Jeff Maehl was pretty good among the receivers. Nice hands. -- Terrence Toliver also had a pretty good day out on the field. Group 6, Running Backs: -- Matt Asiata showed flashes of potential. He cut well and his face looked like it was about to explode with all the effort he was putting in. -- Delone Carter is another small time name who brought big time game to the combine. Very impressive I felt. -- Mark Ingram stole the show, as you might expect. He did every drill 100% and looked solid. Might have issues over some wasted movement at times, but generally top of the class. -- DeMarco Murray looked good, nice feet, agile. -- Jacquizz Rodgers. God only knows where his parents found that name, but the kid can run and has plenty of talent. -- Anthony Sherman. I love me a proper fullback, and that's what we have in Anthony Sherman. surprisingly quick on the field and cut well. -- Johnny White. Another name that never comes up, but again, to my eyes he was very impressive. Maybe I'm just mental or something. Anyway, that's your lot for Day 2. The chances of whether I'll catch Day 3 and report back are directly dependant on my ability to find some Morphine and a drip, which I can then administer on a timed basis to counteract the painful editing, directing etc of the NFL Network.

NFL Combine, day 1 round up

This years combine has sucked. That's not a knock on the players. It's absolutely a knock on the coverage. I could honestly rant for about 4 or 5 hours on this subject, but I wont. Suffice to say the coverage by NFL Network has been absolutely shit-tastic (see post below for highlights). It's practically unwatchable. In fact, it was unwatchable. I turned it off as the tight ends came close to the end of the drills. There was no point continuing. For example, having cut off footage of one drill just so they could show their video of Mike Mayock explaining the "Gauntlet" drill, they then proceeded to waffle on in the studio and run so many adverts that they actually missed half of the Gauntlet drill itself. So what was the fucking point? Why take 5 minutes to show us an explanation of an upcoming drill, then when it comes on, only show us half the fucking drill! What's the fucking point? The answer is that there was none, which explains why I turned it off. I was really looking forward to the combine because it gives you a great chance to pick out some potential prospects who have slipped under the radar, but I just can't do it. I just get so mad watching the shitty coverage that I can't sit through the few good bits that come along. It's like forcing yourself to go to a 3 hour Justin Bieber concert, just because half way through your favourite band is going to come on and play one tune. The reward isn't worth the effort. I honestly hope someone from the NFL Network reads this, because they need to sort this shit out. It was literally painful to watch. It was painful to know that the fucking arse clowns who make up the production team actually paid good money to go to University and get degrees, just so they could go on to make this utter bile. Their tutors must be watching this now and wondering what the hell happened, where the hell did it all go wrong? It was simply chronic. The single worst piece of coverage of a sporting event I have ever seen. Maybe I'm biased because we're spoiled here in the UK. The BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) has a well earned reputation for excellent sporting coverage. There is, frankly, not a company that can touch them in this regard. They never miss the action and they focus completely on the event itself. The NFL Network would do well to learn a few lessons from them. I know I sound like a broken record now, but I'm just struggling to find the words to describe how uniquely fucking appalling that coverage truly was. Anyway, I did make some notes: - Rodney Hudson is a beast. I already had him ear marked for my 2011 watchlist, now I think it's practically a guarantee. - Justin Boren and Brandon Fusco also did well. - Gabe Carimi looked awful, but the game footage tells a different story. - Nate Solder was pretty impressive. - Zachary Williams is a name I will be paying a lot more keen attention to. He looked very intense. - Zane Taylor did pretty well for himself. That's pretty much it for day one. I'm not interested in bench press numbers or many of the measurable's, because they inevitably end up being of little value, except at the various extremes or when someone puts up exceptional numbers. From now on, I'll just catch the highlights because I'm not subjecting myself to that crap from the NFL Network again. It's not good for my blood pressure.

Fuck the NFL Network

So I'm watching the combine by playing back the otherwise live stream on NFL.com (hence why I can pause it and come here to rant). And it's getting my blood up. The biggest issue I have with the TV networks is their belief that fans are more interested in their presenters and the fancy graphics than the actual on field product. The NFL Network are criminally guilty of this. We just missed the first 8 guys from OL group 1 (that includes Gabe Carimi) performing the 2-point stance, kick slide drill. Why? What was so special that the NFL Network had to show us that we missed part of the drill? Michael fucking Lombardi. Oh look everyone, Michael Lombardi is in the broadcast booth. Quick, let's turn the cameras off the action and onto them so we can get a good shot of his face. Could they not have just patched the audio over the top and said "Michael Lombardi has now joined us?" Why did they feel the need to break away from the drills, e.g. the bit that we all sat down to watch, just to show us your three talking heads sitting around chatting about how many people they know from the various teams. Congratulations, you have a lot of contacts, that's wonderful. Now get the fuck off the screen so I can watch the actual Combine!!!!! Edit: And another thing. They picked probably the worst possible angle to film the drill from. Then when the last guy was about to step up, they suddenly change to the correct angle that would have given us a much better view of the action. Whoever the director is, he needs a new job. As a janitor maybe. Edit: And another thing. They brought up a little graphic telling you who the players were and their numbers. Except that it was the Group one o-line on the field, and the numbers/names were for the D-line, who aren't even in action today. What the hell are these clowns doing? Edit: And another thing. James Carpenter just pulled up after a drill with some kind of injury. Now as much as I feel for the guy, please tell me NFL Network why you felt it was necessary to miss three or four guys doing the drill just so you could show Carpenter leaning over in pain? I mean what the fuck were they thinking? What idiot is directing this shit? Edit: And another thing. I'm watching the Group two O-linemen now. Stirling Sharpe needs more work as a host. The guy asks the right questions all the time. Edit: And another thing. I'm sick and damn tired of them cutting away from the drills just to show us highlight reels of their favourite prospects working out. a) Having watched the combine ourselves, we would have already seen the player workout and b) it'd be kinda nice if you'd let us watch all the others, so we can make our own minds up. Edit: And another thing. I just missed four or five guys doing a drill because the network decided it was more important to show some fucking graphic of a question that some arse wipe called "Mark. H" had asked on facebook. Seriously? How fucking hard would it have been for the presenters to just read the question out without having to interrupt the view of the drills? This is absolute fucking amateur hour. Edit: And another thing. Why does the NFL Network feel the need to interrupt one drill just to show us a preview and demonstration of the next drill? Couldn't you just wait for that drill to come up and then run the film while the coaches are explaining the drill to the players? Wouldn't that make more sense? Of course it would. That's why they don't do it. Because anyone with half a fucking brain has been removed from the production crew. Edit: And another thing. Was it really necessary to interrupt the TE drills to show us footage of Rob Gronkowski from last year, just so they could then compare Gronkowski to their favourite TE from this years draft? Who gives a fuck about Gronkowski? We already know he's good, now get the fuck off the screen and let us watch the TE prospects from this year!