By: JJ Lanier

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

If a defensive lineman can outrun a wide receiver, even though he’ll never be matched up with him one on one, should we really care?

If Kyler Murray’s first NFL pass is just out of reach of the outstretched arms of JJ Watt or Aaron Donald, will I yell out “Hell yeah, I told you that 1/10 of an inch makes a difference”? (Maybe, but that will have more to do with personal reasons rather than football ones.)

And if DK Metcalf can run a 4.33 40-yard dash while on the Thanos 30-Day Workout Plan, should it overshadow the fact he has the nimbleness and agility of an elephant?

Look, I think the NFL Combine can be extremely advantageous, if you approach it correctly; using it as an additional tool to assist in a team’s analysis of a player.

However, you know as well as I do that at least one general manager or coach is going to lose his job because he fell in love with a player’s combine numbers over his performance on the field.

I’m always taken aback, although I shouldn’t be by now, how as you go up through the coaching ranks (high school, college, professional) the coach’s arrogance towards being able to turn a player around increases.

I remember watching my high school football team go up against an opponent whose middle linebacker had signed with North Carolina. He was very imposing- about 6-2, 215 lbs- and was incredibly fast.

He was also manhandled by our offensive line and fullback, whose one combined college scholarship offer came from a Division III team.

In fact, not only did he get schooled by our offensive line, but he didn’t have a tackle all game; a pretty impressive feat for a middle linebacker.

Of course, his actual play on the field didn’t matter, he had plenty of athleticism and the UNC coaches were convinced they could turn him into a collegiate player.

He never played a minute for Carolina, as far as I remember. Any of this sound familiar?

As for this year’s combine, all the conversation about Murray and his height leading up to the combine was the pinnacle of how ridiculous this whole thing can be.

Yes, height is important, but had he been measured at 1/16 of an inch shorter than 5-10, all the talk about his height would have amplified.

Instead, he measures what equates to about 4 millimeters taller and it looks like he’s the favorite to go to Arizona with the number one pick. That whole ⅙ of an inch will affect whether or not he’ll be a success NFL quarterback as much as an offensive lineman’s 40-yard dash time.

Still, those results were “breaking news” on just about every sports talk/radio show.

Like most things, the combine started out with good intentions and has devolved over the years into somewhat of a sideshow, albeit a very entertaining one- especially when you consider some of the interviews that take place.

The combine may not be the best way to evaluate a player probability of success at the next level, but as long as guys are running sub 4.4 40’s and walking around with 1.6% body fat, teams will still be placing an emphasis on the whole experience.

The NFL used to be a game of inches. If the combine is any indication, it looks like the league has become a game of millimeters, for now.