NFL Combine

[Smizzy]

(Feb. 22, 2005) -- Less than a month after the conclusion of the 2004 NFL season, the league will turn its attention to the scouting combine. The 2005 gathering will take place Feb. 23 to March 1 at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis.

This year, for the first time, people at home can watch live what goes on inside, thanks to NFL Network, which will have a two-hour daily show (Feb. 26 to March 1) where you will be able to watch the players run 40s and do skill drills on the RCA Dome floor. Maybe some scouts will stay home and watch from their favorite armchair.

NFL Network's signature show, NFL Total Access, also will be on the scene and will feature interviews with coaches, general managers and players.

The skinny on the combine

This event is run by National Football Scouting, which is headed by Gene "Duke" Babb, a former NFL player of six years, including the 1960-61 Dallas Cowboys. Babb does an unbelievable job of organizing this weeklong extravaganza.

More than 200 people from 32 teams help pull it all together. The 12 group leaders do a great job making sure players are up on time and where they are scheduled to be over the three-day period.

The printed results and tapes of what takes place during the week are received by teams within a matter of hours so they can evaluate each player and what they did in the on-field drills (running, jumping and coaching drills). Also included is an interview with each player.

Since when?

Since 1988, three players have been drafted in the first round after they did not attend the combine:

1. Aaron Jones (Eastern Kentucky) by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1988.

2. Eric Swann, who did not play college ball but played in a minor league, by the Arizona Cardinals in 1991.

3. Darrien Gordon (Stanford) by the San Diego Chargers in 1993.

Since 1993, a total of 3,913 players have been invited to the combine -- 2,487 have been drafted (64 percent).

Since 1998, the most players drafted from a position is wide receivers (193). On defense, the most-selected position is cornerback (151).

Since 1998, 309 wide receivers have been invited to combine workouts -- the most of any position. Cornerbacks are second with 207.

Over the past 10 years ...

A total of 2,515 players have been drafted from 258 schools.

Players taken with a top-10 pick in Round 1 have come from 45 schools. Five schools -- Florida State, Miami (Fla.), Ohio State, Penn State and Texas each have had six players taken in the top 10 in that span.

Miami (Fla.) has had 21 players picked in the top 30 of Round 1. Ohio State is second with 11. Miami also had six players picked in Round 1 of the 2004 draft (all within the first 21 picks).

A dozen schools have had 646 players (25.6 percent) of the 2,515 players drafted. They are: Tennessee (67), Ohio State (66), Florida State (63), Miami (Fla.) 62, Florida (57), Nebraska (57), Colorado (48), Georgia (48), Michigan (47), Penn State (43), Southern California (41).

Did you know?

Each team sends its own medical staff, which usually means that there will be 350 people, including trainers, doctors, orthopaedics, internists. That's a lot of people, and there's plenty more when you include the media horde that covers the event. Last year, we had 170 media members that had signed in. We're already over 200 this year.

The last player picked No. 1 overall in the draft for a non-Division I school was Ed "Too Tall" Jones of Tennessee State in 1974 by the Dallas Cowboys. That pick worked out well.

Oklahoma will have the most players at the 2005 combine with 12; Florida State will have 11. National champion USC has five.

Speaking of USC, the Trojans have had the most first-round draft picks in NFL history with 62.

Michigan Tech (Joe Berger) and Samford (Efrem Hill) will have a player at the combine for the first time.

The stands at the RCA Dome will look like a who's who of the NFL. Owners in attendance will include Arizona's Bill Bidwell, Oakland's Al Davis, Dallas' Jerry Jones and the Jets' Robert Johnson. GMs will include Atlanta's Rich McKay, Buffalo's Tom Donahoe, Indianapolis' Bill Polian and Kansas City's Carl Peterson. Most likely, all 32 NFL head coaches will be there, too.