The 2012 NFL Combine kicks off arguably its most high profile day on Sunday as wide receivers, running backs and quarterbacks take part in their position-specific drills and all of the uniform drills. That means we get to see most of the quarterbacks conducting throwing drills (minus Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III) and we get to see the receivers and running backs running the 40-yard dash and shuttle run and taking part in the 3-cone drill and vertical and broad jumps.
For wide receivers and running backs, the 4-point-something seconds it takes to run the 40 could be a make-or-break situation. Game film and player interviews carry plenty of weight, but a strong or poor performance in the various drills has the potential to win or lose a player a whole lot of money.
The 49ers will be looking plenty close at the wide receivers on display today. The 49ers met with Rueben Randle last night and met with Mohamed Sanu prior to that. The team will meet with plenty of people, so there is only so much value to be placed on such a meeting. However, it is still interesting to considering the possibilities of these meetings. Matt Maiocco had an interesting post about Randle yesterday afternoon.
It is worth noting that most of the top prospects have been prepping not only for the physical drills, but for all the interviews and whatnot they go through in the draft process. Trent Baalke mentioned that earlier in the week when discussing how prepared players are for the Combine these days.
NFL Network is airing wall-to-wall coverage of the Combine, and if you do not have the channel on your television, you can also check out a free live stream of the coverage at NFL.com. For a rundown of performances to date, you can check out NFL.com's Combine Tracker or Football's Future's own tracker.
And here is what Rich Eisen described as "The Moneymaker." A fresh coat of paint put down on Friday for the 40-yard dash!