NFL Draft Combine 2018: What does each drill mean?

The agility drills

The three agility drills are the three-cone, the 20-yard shuttle and the 60-yard shuttle. Agility drills will show a player’s ability to change direction and accelerate immediately. Football is played in a series of starts, stops, and changes of direction.

However, where I would say the agilities go wrong are that they’re “closed” agilities. In other words, the athlete knows the drill and when to move in what direction. An open agility drill would mean that a coach determines when to start, and when to change direction based on an auditory or visual cue. This re-creates an actual football game where the athlete has to read and react to the situation around them.

The three-cone drill has three cones set up five yards apart in the shape of a right triangle. The athlete has to touch all three cones and maneuver the path. The 20-yard shuttle is more linear, and requires a quick-cut change of direction. The 60-yard shuttle is just a further apart version of the 20-yard shuttle. Many athletes don’t even perform the 60-yard shuttle. Shuttle drills and agilities in general show an athlete’s stability and body control, and their ability to decelerate and accelerate.

Next: Latest pre-Combine NFL Mock Draft first round

Christian McCaffrey had excellent agility numbers in 2017. McCaffrey turned in a 6.57 three-cone drill and 4.22 20-yard shuttle. McCaffrey’s three-cone was the third best in the 2018 NFL Combine.