Arizona Football: Scooby Wright III and Cayleb Jones in the NFL combine

Arizona football is far from the minds of most Wildcats fans, they are concentrating on Basketball. For some former Wildcats, football is all they’re thinking about.

Two Arizona Wildcats were invited to the NFL Combine in Indianapolis this year, MLB Scooby Wright III and WR Cayleb Jones. Missing is Jeff Worthy, Will Parks, and Reggie Gilbert who all are training for the NFL 2016 draft.

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After a difficult 2015 season, the Rich Rodriguez still has been able to present viable NFL candidates. Wright and Jones will be evaluated based on a series of five tests:

BENCH PRESS – The bench press is a test of strength — 225 pounds, as many reps as the athlete can get.
VERTICAL JUMP – The vertical jump is all about lower-body explosion and power. The athlete stands flat-footed and they measure his reach.
BROAD JUMP – The broad jump is like being in gym class back in junior high school. Basically, it is testing an athlete’s lower-body explosion and lower-body strength.
THE 3 CONE DRILL – Tests an athlete’s ability to change directions at a high speed.
SHUTTLE RUN – The short shuttle is the first of the cone drills. It is known as the 5-10-5. What it tests is the athlete’s lateral quickness and explosion in short areas.

The combine has already kicked off at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Central Indiana. The combine began being held there in 1987 and will continue to be held there through 2020 at the minimum.

What do our Cats have to look forward too? God knows, but one person who shed some light on the subject is Geoff Schwartz. The Players tribune asked the former Oregon Duck about his take on the NFL Combine drawn from his own experience.

Schwartz came up with the six rules to surviving the combine. Here are the rules he came up with and an excerpt describing the rule:

Rule 1: They’re going to mess with you – “In reality, the real game at the Combine is mental. NFL teams want to see how you’re going to handle the stress of a three-day job interview that also requires you to perform physically at the highest level, usually with very little sleep. The entire schedule is set up to mess with your equilibrium.”

Rule 2: Don’t screw up your interviews – “As a player, you’re allowed to have up to 15 private interviews with teams during which you meet with the GM, head coach, position coach, and maybe a few other coaches..they have guys who are watching all your clips. They remember your college games better than you do. It was a hell of a lesson.”

Sep 3, 2015; Tucson, AZ, USA; Arizona Wildcats linebacker Scooby Wright III (33) adjusts his helmet during the first quarter against the Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners at Arizona Stadium. Arizona won 42-32. Mandatory Credit: Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports

Rule 3: You are who you are (on tape) –

“They trust what they see on film. In fact, I kind of feel bad for guys who are Combine stars who shoot up the draft board because of their raw athleticism, because they come into the league with all this extra pressure.”

Rule 4: Film is your best friend – “If you really want to impress teams, talk about your film study and preparation. A common rookie mistake is that a lot of guys procrastinate their film study and are still cramming late on Saturday night or even Sunday morning.”

Rule 5: Get ready to suck – “Guys always say it’s the speed that’s so shocking. The speed is ramped up a bit for sure, but the real difference is that everybody is good now.”

Rule 6: Choose wisely – “You have to spend that time with your family. If you’re lucky, this ride will last three or four years. Your life lasts a hell of a lot longer.”

Daunting. We will be catching up with Scooby hopefully this week sometime and bring you his thoughts and how he has prepared for this weekend.

Wright is in group nine and Jones is in group four. You can find the list of participants HERE.

Oct 24, 2015; Tucson, AZ, USA; Arizona Wildcats wide receiver Cayleb Jones (1) catches the ball as he is tackled by Washington State Cougars safety Shalom Luani (18) during the fourth quarter at Arizona Stadium. The Cougars won 45-42. Mandatory Credit: Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports

Here is the NFL Combine schedule of events care of the Sporting News which started Tuesday, Feb. 23 and will end Monday, Feb. 29:

Wednesday, Feb. 24: Interviews for running backs, offensive linemen and special team players
Thursday, Feb. 25: Interviews for quarterbacks, wide receivers and tight ends
*Watch Live* Friday, Feb. 26: Workouts for running backs, offensive linemen and special team players; interviews for defensive linemen and linebackers
*Watch Live* Saturday, Feb. 27: Workouts for quarterbacks, wide receivers and tight ends; interviews for defensive backs
*Watch Live* Sunday, Feb. 28: Workouts for defensive linemen and linebackers
*Watch Live* Monday, Feb. 29: Workouts for defensive backs

More wildcats: Arizona Football: Meet Michael and the Eletise family

Beardown Cayleb and Scooby!

Arizona Football: Scooby Wright III and Cayleb Jones in the NFL combine

Arizona football is far from the minds of most Wildcats fans, they are concentrating on Basketball. For some former Wildcats, football is all they’re thinking about.

More from Zona Zealots

Schedule

Schedule