Players are broken into 4 groups which will each undergo 4 full days of testing. The week will be lead off with the TEs and offensive lineman, which start their week in Indianapolis later today and run through Saturday, while Group 2 includes the QBs, WRs and RBs, Group 3 includes the LBs and defensive linemen and Group 4 the corners and safeties. Of course, not all players will do a full workout, as over the years many of the very top prospects have opted to wait until their own school’s pro day to run the 40 and participate in position drills. This year, for example, QBs Sam Bradford of Oklahoma, Jimmy Clausen of Notre Dame and Texas' Colt McCoy won't workout because of injury while both Tim Tebow of Florida and Central Michigan's Dan LeFevour will participate in the on-field physical tests, but won't throw until their on-campus pro days in March.

The first day for each group involves registration and orientation, while the players undergo medical tests and get x-rays. The second day involves the weigh-in, along with more medical tests, as well as some psychological testing. On the third day, players meet the players association and undergo further pyschological testing; they also undergo strength testing. Finally on the fourth day players hit the field for physical skills' test and as well as positional drills. The physical tests include running the 40 - the gold standard for draft propsects - as well as the 3-cone drill, 20- and 60-yard shuttles, broad jump and vertical leap. And on each of the first three days players will be interviewed by individual teams. However, every team is limited to interviewing just 60 player and have to submit a list in advance. As well, each interview is limited to only 15 minutes. The on-field physical testing begins on Saturday when the offfensive linemen and TEs hit the field, while the offensive skill people work out on Sunday, followed by the defensive linemen and LBs on Monday and the DBs wrap things up on Tuesday. And while the combine used to be run with all the secrecy of a meeting of the national secrity agency, the event is now carried by the NFL Network with their in-depth coverage to start with the on-field workouts on Saturday. The NFL even permits limited media attendance at the workouts.

While the physical testing gets most of the press, the heart-and-soul of the combine are the medical exams. In fact, the combine came about in the early 1980s to centralize the medical tests so players wouldn't have to undergo the same procedure for 32 different teams. As well, players with serious medical concerns may be recalled in early April for further tests.

Road to the draft runs thru Indy… There is also no question that the scouting combine is a key aspect of the pre-draft process. Last year, for example, 84% of the 256 players selected at the 2009 draft participated in last February's scouting combine. In fact, players who attended the combine as a percentage of those actually drafted has been remarkably constant at around 85% over the past few years. 

As well, almost all players taken in the early rounds of recent drafts were combine inviteees. In 2009, for example, all 32 first-round picks, as well as 96% of those taken in the opening three rounds had attended the combine. And the fact that as many as four players who did not attend the combine were selected within the first three rounds this past April was actually relatively high. Indeed, in 2008, every player taken in the first three rounds had been to that year's combine. For the record, the non-combine invitee taken the earliest at the 2009 draft was former Ohio safety Michael Mitchell who was selected 47th overall by Oakland, while New England took Houston OT Sebastian Vollmer later in the second round with the 58th pick. Meanwhile, Western Illinois OLB Jason Williams and William&Mary CB Derek Cox were taken with the 69th and 73rd picks respectively by Dallas and Jacksonville in the third round.

In fact, the majority of players selected at the 2009 draft who were passed over when the combine invitations were sent out were selected in the later rounds. Last April, for example, 19 of the 42 - or 45% - of the drafted players who did not participate in the combine were taken in the final round, while another 9 (21%) were taken in the 6th round. Still, even in the late rounds, though, the majority of players selected were at the combine. Last year, for example, 60% of players selected in the 7th round, the same figure as the previous year, were at the combine, while 75% of those selected in the 6th round were at the combine.

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