NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock has been all over the combine the past few days, but he took a break to answer some questions for NFL.com about what he’ll be looking for this weekend.

As for his favorite part of this annual evaluation process, Mayock said he’s partial to positional drills.

“Once the 40 and the shuttles and those things are out of the way, we get to see players go through drills that are designed to expose weaknesses based on the positions they play,” Mayock said. “For instance, I love when they take the college DEs that are potential outside linebackers and put them through change-of-direction drills.”

Regarding the DEs, Mayock was asked about the biggest difference between Clemson’s Da’Quan Bowers and North Carolina’s Robert Quinn.

“Bowers was at Clemson for four years with one huge year of production,” Mayock said. “Quinn is a 20-year-old true junior that was suspended and missed the entire 2010 season.

“Right now, my slight preference would be Robert Quinn because he’s younger and I believe has more upside.”

Mayock also was asked about which attributes and drills are most valuable when evaluating offensive linemen:

• Arm length – “Teams want to see a minimum of 34 inches for an NFL left tackle.”

• 10-yard split – “It measures explosion and initial quickness off the ball.”

• Kick-slide drill – “Simulates a quick DE coming off the ball and exposes tightness in the hips.”

• Mirror drill – “Can see whether a player has elite movement skills.”

Click here for Mayock’s entire chat.

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