Players refusing to participate or complete drills in the Combine, which used to gather a lot of attention and appreciation, has become a trend nowadays. While the top QBs in the draft always had a lot of power with the teams opting to draft them, Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, and Drake Maye opting to sit out the drills of the Combine signified a further power shift between the top prospects and the organizations.
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In a QB-centred league landing a top QB is a difficult process so teams are now willing to accept the reality of the day. And Kirk Cousins has a reason why the top shot-callers can now opt out of Combines and Pro Days. During his appearance on the Big Podcast with Shaq, the Falcons new QB asserted that the evolution of the game has given the belief they are still going to be drafted regardless, even if they don’t do what has been expected of them for so long.
Cousins feels the players are now “playing from a position of power” and it’s not a bad thing as long as continue to get drafted. He said,
” I think the game just evolves where players are realizing, I’d get drafted high whether I do this or not. I think they are recognizing there is a little more leverage than they realized and teams need a number one receiver, Tight End, a great Back and QB, and Line play and defensive players more than the players realized. Now they are saying’ team needs me a lot more than maybe it used to look like. So I am going to play it like I play from the position of power.”
Top players have now realized that they carry a bit more weight than they expected. The power balance has shifted and because of that the demand for top players in top positions is high, while the supply is low, they have realized that teams need them more than they need them.
Players are now accepting that no matter how good they do in college or how good their game film is, they will be crucified for underperforming in something as insignificant as a 40-yard dash. This made them opt out of that whole process.
New Prospects Are Not Willing To Take Criticism For One Mis-Step
Adam Lefkoe feels that teams used to make players jump through hoops, controlling every aspect of the Combine activities and then using the results of those drills against you, to devalue your position in the draft. So players unwilling to appease and jump through unnecessary hoops make sense because they have realized that they hold the leverage in this negotiation.
When Caleb Williams announced that he wouldn’t be performing in the Combine, and told the teams to watch his game film if they wanted to draft him, he was still criticized and was labeled arrogant with many speculating and even wanting his draft stock to fall. But nothing drastic happened and he is all set to be picked by the Bears as the 1st overall pick.
