I just love this line:

The story of Marv and Todd Marinovich was supposed to be a cautionary tale, but in many respects, it's become a blueprint.

My only issue with all the work beforehand is that some of our measurements have become distorted.

The 40-yard-dash is now something specifically trained for and the athletes can smoke and mirror their way into a good time that doesn't really mesh with their playing speed on the field and on film.  I don't mean to pick on the kid but look at USC's Steve Smith, he's just not a 4.37/4.44 guy in pads.  Smart people know this and have to reluctantly dismiss his efforts at the combine.

Smith obviously tired of hearing people dog his speed, trained his body to run a fast time and is now perceived to be faster than what he really is.

At one point the combine was a smart and revolutionary idea.  It still has tremendous value as teams get to meet many athletes in-person without having to fly all over the country and get some measurements on them.  However, the "combine" aspect of it is now losing its reliability.  It's not realistic at the moment but eventually I could see a return to a greater reliance on film or in-season screenings to get more reliable times for when everyone's in football shape instead of combine shape.  The investment in players is simply too great and they've now learned ways to game the system.