question for the mods on posting regarding combine

[general counsel]

I dont understand why we cant post independent threads regarding the combine. The combine is where the action is these days. Why require people to scroll through four pages of posts to answer particular topics raised by people. For example, i just posted the bench press results for the three offensive lineman. It is buried on page 4. That means a number of people wont see it and it also breaks up the discussion on that particular issue. Are we short of space or something?

I think it makes sense if you want a separate area for posts on the combine (although i dont understand how its different from the draft really) but i dont see why all combined posts get moved into one thread. That is not user friendly and atypical of the way the mods run the board.

Your call of course, just raising the issue.

Ramming speed to all

general counsel

[Nick]

Posts that are specifically about the testing, evaluation, and results of the combine need to go in the Combine thread. That's a one-stop shop for combine information. If you want, I can edit the very first post of the thread with links to posts within the thread regarding results to make them easier to find.

But the vast majority of the threads on the first page are not combine related. Many of them are questions about free agents, what you would do as a GM, mock drafts, recent news, etc. If we have four threads about the various testing results for offensive linemen, and then two more threads for how so-and-so those threads get pushed down as well. Keep in mind that free agency is just around the corner, and threads will continue to pop up as we get closer to the deadline due to whatever news is out there.

Also, draft news that is not just about the combine will not be merged. For instance, the news about Crabtree's injury affects more than just the combine. It's also big enough news to warrant it's own discussion. But results, measurements, etc... it needs to be in the combine thread. Otherwise, everything gets pushed down 2-3 pages by the time this is done.

If anyone has any additional inquires about how things are modded, please shoot me a PM. But this is how we've run things in the past, and it's worked well.

[general counsel]

I am not sure why an injury affects draft status more than combine performance (ie bench press), but once again, i defer to the mods, who do a fantastic job of running the board. If my question is would you change your view of where you would draft a player based on the number of reps on the bench, that appears to me to be draft related, in addition to combine related. I didnt spell it out that completely in my post because i didnt realize the rule, but i think its a worthy discussion point for people to give their views as to who an offensive tackles draft status should be impacted by his ability to do less reps on the bench that a number of running backs, wide receivers and even a punter.

I hope the mods dont take this as a criticism, only a point on which reasonable people can differ and i appreciate that the ruling has been made.

As another example, just my opinion, the fact that andre smith went awol from the combine today and then left certainly should qualify as a topic as thread worthy as the crabtree injury, rather than one entry in a five page thread.

ramming speed to all

general counsel

[MauiRam]

Why require people to scroll through four pages of posts to answer particular topics raised by people. For example, i just posted the bench press results for the three offensive lineman. It is buried on page 4. That means a number of people wont see it and it also breaks up the discussion on that particular issue.

Exactly! If it is imperative to separate the Combine from Draft & FA, (the combine is not draft related?), then would it not be better to have a separate forum listing different threads, thereby allowing folks to choose ones which pique their particular interests? I am not trying to stir things up .. just asking.

[Nick]

i think its a worthy discussion point for people to give their views as to who an offensive tackles draft status should be impacted by his ability to do less reps on the bench that a number of running backs, wide receivers and even a punter.

As do I. No one is preventing anyone from having that discussion, though.

The question becomes whether or not Test X at the combine is worthy of a new topic. If it is, why isn't Test Y? Why can't we have a topic for Test X for the receivers? What about Test X for the DBs? What about Test Z for QBs? Let's start a thread for Test Z for QBs, and then another for Test Z for running backs.

Now suddenly we have a dozen threads updating people on combine information that they could have simply found in one thread. Rather than scroll through a couple of pages of combine discussion, they'd have to click through a dozen new threads to get the results of various combine testing. This doesn't strike me as any more user friendly; if anything, being able to go to one thread to find all the combine info I need seems much more user friendly, even if it means I have to skim through some responses to find the hard data.

Again, I've volunteered to try and keep the very first post of the combine thread updated with as much information as I can. But if the discussion overflows into the main Draft/FA forum, then suddenly a lot of other topics are getting shoved down to the second and third pages simply because some people will feel it necessary to start multiple new threads discussing how so and so did in his forty, and then in his bench, and then in his vertical, etc.

As another example, just my opinion, the fact that andre smith went awol from the combine today and then left certainly should qualify as a topic as thread worthy as the crabtree injury, rather than one entry in a five page thread.

Someone did start an Andre Smith topic, but it was titled "OT Andre Smith not to workout stock falling." The information within it was vague and largely a repeat of what was already posted in the combine thread. So it was merged. Ordinarily I would agree that the Smith news from the day would be worth of its own topic, but significant new news did not appear to be presented in the thread I merged.

Exactly! If it is imperative to separate the Combine from Draft & FA, (the combine is not draft related?), then would it not be better to have a separate forum listing different threads, thereby allowing folks to choose ones which pique their particular interests? I am not trying to stir things up .. just asking.

No one is separating the combine from the draft, nor is anyone saying it isn't draft related. The combine thread is within the Draft/FA forum, therefore making it a part of draft discussion and draft related.

It sounds as if you're advocating for a new sub-forum within Draft/FA specifically for the combine. Is that really that much different than having one thread specifically for the combine?

The sub-forum idea is intriguing, but it just seems to me that instead of sifting through a couple of pages in one thread, you'd be sifting through a dozen different threads and topics within a sub-forum, many of which may not be appropriately named (see: this topic), making the information difficult to track down.

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No system is perfect, but I think keeping all the event-specific news in one place seems to work the best. This is generally how we do discussion threads for various events - we do this same thing for the Senior Bowl thread, the official draft-day thread, the game threads for people who can't get into the chat, etc. And it's always worked out fine.

If we changed it and allowed people to create as many combine-related threads as they wanted, or as many game-related threads as people wanted, then the criticism would be, "I just started a thread and now it's halfway down page two because of all these combine threads." There are problems with any manner in which you organize something, but I think right now we have a system where if I want to know something about the combine, I only have to click on one thread. I think for a lot of people, that is pretty user friendly.