As we stated on the previous page, none of these prospects become better football players by running some drills in Nike Pro Combat workout gear. None of them are getting stronger or getting faster in one weekend. What they’re doing is proving what they have or don’t have, and that starts with their game film in mind.

There are ways to go about the Combine. Now I know that not everyone, even those reading this column, are as crazy of football fans as some others. The second the Bucs season is done, I know there are fans who are going on YouTube and trying to find any kind of game film they can on prospects who are coming into the draft who could be Buccaneers. This part is good for you because the Combine should be viewed with an idea already in mind of what a prospect is from watching his game tape on the field (or live for the more casual fan).

For example, if a player uses mainly speed to win, such as a wide receiver or a running back, you want to make sure they’re fast at the Combine. You want to make sure you can check that box. We all loved freaking out about wide receiver John Ross running a really fast 40-yard dash last year, but honestly, we weren’t freaking out because we didn’t think he was going to be fast. We freaked out just because of the novelty of the Combine.

Things get interesting, though, when a prospect does something you expect or didn’t expect in a good or bad way.

Take Bucs wide receiver Chris Godwin, for example. Godwin came into the Combine with the narrative that he had great hands, knew how to run all kinds of routes with success and would be a nice possession No. 2 receiver in the NFL, maybe even a slot guy. But, when he got up to the line and ran a 4.42, that turned some heads in a good way — even head coach Dirk Koetter said he was surprised at how fast Godwin ran.

That makes you go back to the tape with that athleticism in mind and notice the little moments where Godwin was showing that speed that you maybe didn’t notice before. Instead of thinking he’s just a possession guy, you’ve now realized he has the speed to be a complete type of receiver. But, it all goes back to the tape. Even if a prospect has great Combine results, if you can’t go back and find it in his game tape, those numbers don’t matter. For Godwin, they did. For others, not so much.

Drill Deception: DE Da’Quan Bowers

Let’s take a look at former Bucs second-round pick defensive end Da’Quan Bowers, who played the Combine to his advantage — and to the deception of the team that selected him, even if it wasn’t as high as some initially thought.

After coming off a season where he recorded 26 tackles for loss and 15.5 sacks, Bowers was thought to be one of the elite pass rushers in the 2011 draft class.  One of the knocks against him, though was his top speed.

“[Bowers] is an athletic big-man but doesn’t possess ideal top-end speed.” – NFL.com

When Bowers ran a 4.64 40-yard dash at 6-foot-4, 280 pounds (which was good enough to put him in the 88th percentile), Tampa Bay must have been one of those teams that checked the box numerically, but didn’t bother to double check it on the tape. See, the problem was, Bowers could move at the Combine, but that didn’t show up on his tape, and if it doesn’t show up on the tape (consistently) then it might as well not exist. The teams that fail at the Combine process are the ones that see the numbers, overlook it being missing from the tape and think they can magically coach that trait out of them. Though the draft is a game of perception, you can’t let that game play you.

Bucs LB Kendell Beckwith – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Bowers certainly had other troubles to him such as his work ethic, but again, I think the Bucs were fooled and let other negatives go because of the number they saw at the Combine — they’re not the first team to fall for that sort of thing. You can’t let the numbers mean more than they do. Tape is king.

The Medicals: LB Kendell Beckwith

I’m not going to lie, the Kendell Beckwith pick last year by the Bucs was totally out of left field for me. I did not expect the Bucs to pick a linebacker – much less one who was just coming off an ACL tear, especially one who plays a position where you have to change direction a lot. And look what it got them: a must-needed fill-in rookie start who ended up being the full-time starter by the end of the year.

A crucial part of that pick was surely at the Combine – and this is an area where team can get an advantage over others.

Beckwith getting the thumbs up that his rehab from his ACL was not only going well, but was perhaps ahead of schedule must have been a delight to the Buccaneers, who obviously liked him more than other teams since they traded up in the third round to select him. Having these official medical records at your disposal is something that isn’t as heavily broadcasted or talked about, but is a way that team can position themselves to have “sleepers” in the draft just like Beckwith ended up being.

Medicals are big when it comes to rounding out a prospects’ overall grade on a big board. The reason why some highly regarded prospects fall in the draft is because of bad medical reports, and that information is not always readily available to the media and NFL Draft fans.