With the pre-draft process in full swing, the attention of teams and their fans turns towards players’ individual pro days.
These are scripted individual workouts where players usually cherry pick which exercises they participate in and even pick the specific parts of the ones they do.
The media buzz that surrounds these workouts is farcical as reporters and ‘experts’ analyse every step, catch and throw made by a participant in ideal conditions against no defenders.
The most scrutinised position with regards to pro days are the quarterbacks, whose throwing mechanics are broken down on every attempt.
Accuracy, throw power and degree of difficulty of throws are all taken into account when scouts look at these players.
The level of subjectivity when these evaluations are taking place is astronomical as the perceived deficiencies that were noticed during the college playing season are either confirmed or put to rest.
If there is a question mark over whether the player has a strong enough deep ball, then all the player has to do in his workout is launch a ball as hard as he can to dispel these rumours.
Accuracy issues can be amended by completing a minimum of 70/75 scripted throws on a field alone.
The flip side of this is that some things can become issues even if they weren’t before, for example when a player wobbles a ball out of his hand or under throws a receiver during his pro day.
In these pro days, the teams who come to watch have no control over what they see the prospect do.
Their college offensive coordinator or a positional consultant draw up a script of plays to highlight the player’s strengths and minimise the exposure of any weaknesses.
This is why there are so many informational gaps filled by speculation, both before and after a pro day, until teams have a chance to individually work out a player.
Andrew Luck, the former no.1 overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft was a highly scrutinised prospect leading up to the draft.
While he was the consensus no.1 pick by all the pundits, there was speculation that he didn’t have the ability to throw a deep ball with enough velocity.
With his arm strength in question, Luck wisely made the move to hold his pro day outside in the wind rather than inside.
He purposely made deep throws against the wind to show that he could make those throws in the NFL.
This was enough for the scouts to put the issue to bed and proclaim him the undeniable no.1 player in the draft.
Luck, who had never had an issue with throwing a deep ball in his collegiate career, was forced to prove his arm.
Possibly the biggest bust in NFL history is the former no.1 overall pick and Oakland Raider JaMarcus Russell.
Going through the pre-draft process, Russell started as a quality quarterback but after his pro day rocketed up draft boards and was touted as a sure fire NFL hit.
The NFL’s own draft expert Mike Mayock described his pro day as “the best performance from a quarterback he has ever seen”.
Russell wowed at his pro day with his physical stature and an incredibly strong arm.
By all accounts the ball zipped out of his hands with uncanny velocity and accuracy.
Russell’s scripted workout was built around flashing his strong arm as he bombed away to open receivers against no defence.
Scouts were tantalised by his arm and never got a glimpse of any weaknesses that he may have had.
Russell’s career in the NFL was short-lived. When on the field his many glaring weaknesses were exposed.
His is the example of why pro days have relatively no bearing on how a player will progress in the NFL. The drama that surrounds a good or bad pro day are unwarranted as they give you no insight into how a player will react on the field in a live game.
As a pure fact finding mission by collecting measurables and getting to speak with coaches and teammates, the pro day has a place. A measure of a player’s talent and ability to progress in the NFL, the pro day is not.
Teams get to know all they need to about a player when they bring them in for individual workouts where they can script what they want the prospect to do.
That is then they get a look at the whole picture of a player rather than just what they want you to see. As a pure evaluation process, the individual workout is far superior to the dog and pony show that is a pro day.
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