Quote:It's like everything else that is a player-generic evaluation at the Combine. It gives everyone a baseline, neutral environment where they can be judged against their peers.

 

Consider a DE that a scout has seen tape on. In his tape, he looks slow but he is in on tackles. Now consider a RB whose speed always pops out on tape, but he consistently gets tackled by Defensive Linemen. Now that the two of them are placed into a neutral environment, we can see how their speed and acceleration match up. Did one or the other use perfect sprinter form to gain his speed? Was there a stance issue? Was there good quickness, but poor overall speed? Did the player begin to fade through the latter half of the run?

 

With this type of a critical, analytical look at a player we can get just a little bit better picture of his athletic ability.