Jackson Free Press

The top draft prospects will be at the NFL Combine, which runs from Friday, March 3, to Monday, March 6. Players are broken up by position, with running backs on one day and quarterback on another day and so forth.

If you want to watch the Combine but never have, you will need to know a few things. Even if you don’t have a firm hold of everything, it doesn’t hurt to watch and figure it out over the next few days.

The main attraction of each day of the Combine is the 40-yard dash. It can get redundant at times because, let's face it, once you have seen one 40-yard dash, you have seen them all. That is, until someone runs a blazing time for their position. Seeing a 250-pound player running a 4.4-second 40-yard dash is something to behold.

Come for the 40-yard dash, but stay for the on-the-field drills. The football-related drills are a great way to see the differences in players.

Those drills also bring a ton of lingo to the broadcast. One thing you will hear a lot about is hips. Players will have “stiff hips,” “loose hips,” “tight hips,” “good hip movement” and a few more hip-related phrases. Don’t be surprised to hear about ankles, “bubble butts,” legs, thighs and more.

Stiff or tight hips are normally considered a bad thing because football is about a quick change of direction. Loose hips are normally a good thing, as it means that a player is good at moving on the field.

Another phrase that you will hear a good bit is “red flags.” Those can be for medical reasons, run-ins with the law, suspensions from the team or anything that could make a team weary about drafting a player.

One thing that scouts and teams have to worry about are workout warriors, or guys who kill it at the Combine but didn’t necessarily stand out during the past season. These players might drive up their draft stock because of the numbers they put at the Combine, but it might not translate to success in the NFL.

Remember, every player has practiced taking the wonderlic (an IQ test for NFL players), and worked on running the 40-yard dash, the broad jump and the on-the-field drills. The Combine is a job interview that can earn or cost players millions of dollars.

So it is not the player’s fault if a team falls in love with a workout warrior or player that explodes at the Combine. It is up the teams to do their homework on every player they are going to draft. That brings up another point. The Combine should confirm what scouts and coaches have seen on tape. If a player runs a faster time than what is expected, teams should go back and look at the tape to see if they were wrong about the player or if that player has worked on his 40-yard dash to look faster than he shows on tape.

The phrase “tape don’t lie” is something you will hear a good bit. Again, this is just saying that the Combine should be used with game tape to get a full picture of each player.

Footwork is an important thing to watch. When a player runs a drill, and it looks smooth and easy, that is a product of good footwork. If a player looks like he is fighting his way through a drill, bad footwork is part of the reason. Quarterbacks from spread offenses will be judged harshly on their footwork. It could cost a player money if their footwork is bad at the Combine.

“High motor,” “constant motor” or “motor that doesn’t run every play” is something that will be used a good deal. Players want to be known as high-motor guys, not guys who take plays off during games.

Plenty of other phrases and lingo are associated with the Combine. Even if you don’t know them all, feel free to watch and tweet @JFPSports on Twitter if you have questions or wonder about a player.