FanHouse

The scouting combine is the single biggest gathering of the year in the NFL, with hundreds of draft prospects, hundreds of coaches, hundreds of agents and hundreds of journalists congregating in Indianapolis. But some people in NFL circles believe that the combine is starting to lose some of its luster because many of the top prospects decline to work out.

Those people will be impressed with Virginia defensive end Chris Long, who told Peter King of SI.com that he will do every drill and every workout at the combine, with the possible exception of the bench-press, which he might skip if his sore thumb makes it difficult for him to grip the bar. Long's reasoning is as follows:

It gives him a chance to disprove what he thinks some draftniks and NFL scouts are saying about him. "That I don't have top-end speed, and I can't play more than one position well, and I'm a high-motor, overachieving guy, but I'm not an athlete,'' he said. "When I lie in bed at night, those are the kinds of things I hear. I hear the negative things. People try to pigeon-hole me as a player, and that kind of drives me.''

I don't know what kinds of workout numbers Long will put up, but I suspect that he'll show that he does have top-end speed and is a good athlete. That's the way he looks to me from watching him on the field, anyway. But considering that there's a perception about him that his weakness is a lack of great athleticism, his decision to do all the workouts at the combine is a good one: His stock won't drop, but it could rise even higher.