Today is my last day here at the Combine in Indianapolis, but the show will go on all the way through Tuesday. It’s quite a long week for team personnel – everyone from the medical staffs to the coaching staffs. They arrived here last Tuesday, worked long days and will go home on Tuesday (at the earliest).
My thanks go to Coach Childress and Rick Spielman for helping me along during my first Combine. We got a lot covered over the past few days and they were a big reason why.
One observation I made since arriving on Wednesday is the importance of the medical exams, psychological testing and private team interviews. While it’s hard to gauge whether those facets of the evaluation process are more or less important than the physical drills, it’s clear that determining a player’s character and examining the player’s passion for the game is vital.
While evaluating the 2008 draft class is the ultimate concern here, there is also a lot of other business going on. The Combine provides a venue for all the teams’ front offices and coaching staffs to gather and converse in person rather than on the phone. The Combine also allows old friends and acquaintances to re-unite. There are also player agents here, allowing teams to discuss the futures of their own free agents.
Although vikings.com is leaving Indianapolis, we will still continue to provide coverage from the Combine. I have a few contacts on the ground, including NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock, so we’ll stay in tune with what’s happening through Tuesday. Also, we hope to check in with Rick Spielman another time or two.
Check out the vikings.com Combine Coverage page to get caught up on all the action.