Players will often try to cut or add weight before their official Scouting Combine weigh-ins, to hit the numbers they think teams want to see.
But before they work out in Indianapolis, they’ll get checked again.
According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, the league has instituted a second weigh-in, just before players do their on-field workouts. A committee of General Managers requested the change, to make sure players are actually working out at their listed weights, as they do in a pro day setting.
For instance, receivers were weighed and measured on Monday, but won’t run until Thursday night, and players’ bodies can change pretty significantly in a short amount of time.
While it might seem like an arcane point, a number of players go to extreme measures to hit certain numbers during the pre-draft process.
A year ago, Florida State pass-rusher Brian Burns played at 230 pounds, but bulked up to 253 in two months for his Combine weigh-in (oh, you know, a 10 percent of his body weight increase). After proving he was the size of an actual NFL outside linebacker, the Panthers drafted him in the first round. Once he went through OTAs, he was back down to 243 by the middle of June, and he referred to the 253 as his “max weight.”
The swings won’t be as big in four days, but the league wants to make sure they’re getting a representative measurement.
