Throwback Thursday: Where's The Bubble?

This Throwback Thursday is a throwback to March, 19 2011. The Flea Flicker was a month old at the time and I was having some fun with one of my favorite draft evaluation terms. With the Scouting Combine starting in a week the timing felt right. Where's the Bubble?


I've been reading NFL draft prospect analyses and projections for years. They are everywhere now, dozens of magazines, Internet, etc. They can never replace watching game tape, but for fans this is often all we have. These analyses can be fairly generic for particular positions. They have also taken on a bit of "coach- or scout-speak". So much so that it can sound like a whole other language. A couple of years ago, nearly every player analysis contained a reference to a "bubble". I was a bit stumped at first. Through the usage of the word, it was soon obvious that the authors were referring to a part of the player's anatomy. With delicious Chicken McNuggets, one wonders where on a chicken a nugget is found. Where is a "bubble" found on a football player? You're probably ahead of me. The "bubble" is the tushy, the derriere, the butt. I'm not sure how this impacts a player's draft status, or if it even should. I can see the potential benefits of a big "bubble" on a lineman, but I can also see it getting in the way. The odd thing about the "bubble" and it's draft importance is that it has not been used since that one big "bubble" year. The "bubble" is no longer important to the NFL. For whatever reason, the "bubble" has gone.