While there is some debate about the importance of combine performance, there is certainly little doubt that some NFL positions require the athleticism that the combine attempts to measure. The success of crossover athletes like Antonio Gates and his successors certainly provides some anecdotal evidence that sizeable and exceptional athletes tend to excel at the tight end position. Indeed, it seems reasonable to hypothesize that any elite tight end would need to be an exceptional athlete to both block on early downs and catch passes in latter ones. To help explore this hypothesis, a sample of all combine data since 1999 was employed to model the probability that a given tight end would earn a legitimate (as in, not an injury replacement) selection to a Pro Bowl.
Tight Ends and the Combine
