You also have to think about technique & mental awareness. Unless your a top 15 pick, you probably need a good amount of work on your technique(especially lineman, D or O) and just your ability to grasp the new games speed
So would you rather have a player who played at a high level and wasnt "maxed" out physically (which as a overly-qualified personal trainer is a ridiculous idea to me, you can always improve something) who has ok technique
or a player who played at a high level, that is "maxed" out, and still needs technique work.
Like what if the guy that played at a higher level( was on a team that was successful which makes him look better indivudially) has perfect technique and has the body type that suggests that he can only get marginally stronger, even with a kickass program. Would you take him over the player that was pretty good, had decent technique, but the body type to really become a beast, which he almost already is?
Also being a gym ratyear after year kinda shows GMs that you are committed to making yourself better day in day out, not just to get better combine #s. And people that are better conditioned not only recover from injuries better, but generally have less little problems, because their muscle tissue is denser, not just bigger and their ligaments are stronger(and just as important, flexible).
As they say, the best ability is availiblity.
Sorry for the lengthy response, I usually dont have coffee
