In anticipation for the combine, Gilyard sought the advice of a former teammate, former defensive back at UC and current Cincinnati Bengal, Mike Mickens.
“Mike just straight up told me, ‘Stay positive with the whole thing, but just make sure when you go there, know you’re going to be there and know where to go,’” Gilyard said. “It’s going to be really lengthy and people are going to be asking you really good questions, and you’ve got to be sure with how you answer those questions.”
For the physical aspect of the combine, all participants are put though a variety of workout drills including the 40-yard dash, bench press, vertical jump, broad jump, 3-cone drill and shuttle run to measure their speed, strength, ability to change direction and lateral quickness.
“They don’t show you everything, because tape never lies,” Gilyard said. “Those small little drills, the 40, the three cones, the agility and those other little things, it gives you a small percentage of what’s going on on the field.”
On the field in Indianapolis, players will also take part in position-specific drills, giving Pike and Gilyard the chance to go head-to-head against their competition for NFL jobs.
“Some of these drills I didn’t even know existed,” Gilyard said. “Everything you can think of, they have a drill for it. [Mickens] told me not to go out there and think, ‘Oh my God, I’m at the NFL Combine.’ He was like, ‘You wouldn’t be there if they didn’t want you. Don’t go in there cocky, but go in there confident that you’ll be able to show your skills out there against the best of the best.’ ”
http://www.newsrecord.org/sports/cats-head-to-nfl-combine-1.2166233
“Mike just straight up told me, ‘Stay positive with the whole thing, but just make sure when you go there, know you’re going to be there and know where to go,’” Gilyard said. “It’s going to be really lengthy and people are going to be asking you really good questions, and you’ve got to be sure with how you answer those questions.”
For the physical aspect of the combine, all participants are put though a variety of workout drills including the 40-yard dash, bench press, vertical jump, broad jump, 3-cone drill and shuttle run to measure their speed, strength, ability to change direction and lateral quickness.
“They don’t show you everything, because tape never lies,” Gilyard said. “Those small little drills, the 40, the three cones, the agility and those other little things, it gives you a small percentage of what’s going on on the field.”
On the field in Indianapolis, players will also take part in position-specific drills, giving Pike and Gilyard the chance to go head-to-head against their competition for NFL jobs.
“Some of these drills I didn’t even know existed,” Gilyard said. “Everything you can think of, they have a drill for it. [Mickens] told me not to go out there and think, ‘Oh my God, I’m at the NFL Combine.’ He was like, ‘You wouldn’t be there if they didn’t want you. Don’t go in there cocky, but go in there confident that you’ll be able to show your skills out there against the best of the best.’ ”
http://www.newsrecord.org/sports/cats-head-to-nfl-combine-1.2166233
