Off-season thoughts (Vol. XI) 

Now that we know Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson are not coming to Cleveland to continue their National Football League careers despite laughingly wild speculation one of them would, time to focus on other matters leading up to the annual college football draft.

Such as the Scouting Combine that recently concluded in Indianapolis. Many in the industry firmly believe this annual event is vitally important in crafting a roster. A number of others (including me) believe it's nothing more than a meat market designed to bring the NFL back into the spotlight after the Super Bowl hype dies down.

I've maintained over the years that the only thing the league derives from it is massive amounts of free publicity. It also gives fans an opportunity to witness on national television what these talented college players can do in shorts and then form their own opinions.

It makes for great fodder on social media and keeps the NFL light burning brightly during the offseason. While it is a great public relations tool. it also is more like performance art for the league's coaches, general managers and scouts.

For the unwashed, it consists of seven drills, each designed to determine players' strengths and weaknesses, shaping the evaluations. They focus primarily on strength, agility, speed and overall athleticism. 

The (225-pound) bench press determines upper body strength. The broad jump roots out explosion and power skills. The vertical jump reveals leaping ability, most important for skill players on both sides of the football.

There are two shuttle runs -- 20 yards and 60 yards. The 20 (5-10-5) focuses on quickness, flexibility and change of direction. The 60 (5-10-15 twice) is a longer version.

The three-cone drill -- the cones are placed five yards apart at right angles to each other -- also determines agility and fluidity, the participant touching the cones while on the run, winding it up in serpentine fashion. 

The big one is the 40-yard dash, the result of which often determines where a player is drafted. It determines speed, of course, and acceleration. Getting from point A to point B rapidly rose in importance over the years, although it was originally born in the mid-1950s (by legendary coach Paul Brown) to improve punt coverage. The average punt back then traveled around 40 yards.

It's nice to know how quickly players can cover 40 yards on a football field, but how its impact on draft position is puzzling. Tenths of a second and hundredths of a second often make the difference between getting drafted in the first round or fourth round. Still trying to figure that out.

Based on that kind of thinking, I figured there was no way 6-8, 345-pound offensive tackle Orlando Brown Jr. had a chance of being selected in the first round of the 2018 draft after lumbering a 5.86 in the 40. It was judged "historically bad" by a television analyst.

Factor in the seeming ultra importance of the 40 to scouts and GMs, that embarrassing time dropped the son of the ex-Browns offensive tackle to the second day of the draft. In addition, he managed only 14 reps in the bench press. (Sarcasm alert) Guess he wasn't fast enough to cover punts. (End sarcasm alert)

So what, said the Baltimore Ravens, who selected Brown in the third round and plugged him at right tackle seven games into the 2018 season. He remained there for two more seasons before the Ravens traded him to Kansas City after he demanded to be switched to left tackle. He was a Pro Bowler the last two seasons.

The point here is I believe the Combine is overrated and not necessary. Personnel people and their bosses have voluminous footage of film or tape and know every one of these young men. They know what they can do in a uniform and distinguish the good football players from those who work out well in shorts but come up short in playing the game. Those who excel are called workout warriors.

Give me football players over workout warriors. Some good football players are also workout warriors. But not all workout warriors are good football players.