After a year off in which there was no formal scouting combine because of Covid concerns, we are back on this year. And players will start arriving in Indianapolis tomorrow for what is arguably the most important single week on the pre-draft schedule. Indeed, over the next week a total of 324 players will be poked and prodded, as well as tested both mentally and physically as they go through what amounts to a pressure cooker job interview.
Players are broken into 4 groups each of which will undergo 3 full days of testing. The week will lead off with Group 1, which includes the QBs, WRs and TEs, who start testing on Tuesday. They’ll be followed by Group 2 which includes the offensive lineman and RBs who start their week on Wednesday; Group 3, which includes the defensive linemen and LBs, start on Thursday; and finally Group 4, which includes the corners and safeties as well as the specialists, starts on Friday. It should be noted that the fact that the players’ testing week runs three days is a change from the past when the process covered four days.
The day they arrive the players go through registration and orientation and also begin the interview process. Their real combine starts on the second day, though, when players go thru a full medical exam, while also continuing with the interviews. On the third day, players have media interviews and also meet with the players association. Then on the final day, the players are measured and weighed, undergo strength testing including the bench press and finally hit the field for physical skills testing as well as positional drills. The physical tests include running the 40 – the gold standard for draft prospects – as well as the 3-cone drill, 20- and 60-yard shuttles, broad jump and vertical leap.
The fact that the bench press is going to be conducted the same day as the on-field testing is a major change from the past when the BP was held on a different day. It has also proved to be a somewhat contentious change as a number of players (and their agents) fear that they could be tired out by the time they get to the 40 and there are concerns that many will opt to pass on the BP and do it at their pro day.
The QBs and receivers will be the first group to hit the field on Thursday, followed by the offensive linemen and RBs on Friday, the defensive linemen and LBs on Saturday and the DBs and specialists on Sunday. The NFL Network is promising full coverage of the on-field drills for all 4 groups starting on Thursday. Note, though, that the on-field stuff only begins around 4 PM ET on the first three workout days and 2 PM ET on Sunday. In the past, the on-field testing got underway pretty much first thing in the morning.
Of course, in addition to the questions surrounding the bench press, not all players will do a full workout, as over the years many of the very top prospects have opted to wait until their own school’s pro day or a private workout to run the 40 and participate in position drills, although the trend over the years appears to be for more players to workout than not.
As well, on each of the first three days of their stay in Indianapolis, players can be interviewed by individual teams. However, every team is limited to interviewing just 60 player and have to submit a list in advance of the players they wish to interview. As well, each interview is limited to only 15 minutes meaning the players are under immense pressure as it may be the first and possibly only time they have direct contact with NFL coaches and general managers. In particular, during the interviews, players will be asked to explain any past off-field indiscretions and/or questions about work ethic and motor; teams will also put them in front of a chalk board and test their football acumen.
While the physical testing, especially the 40-yard dash times, get most of the national headlines, the heart-and-soul of the combine are the medical exams. Indeed, the combine came about in the early 1980s as an effort to centralize the medical tests so players wouldn’t have to undergo the same procedures for 32 different teams, although every NFL team will have their entire medical and training staffs in Indianapolis going over the medical history, X-rays and MRI results of the prospects. As well, players who have had a surgery in college or high school will be asked to go for additional tests. And players with serious medical concerns may be recalled in early April for further testing.
Its also important to keep the combine in perspective. No question it is an important part of the process, but the fact is that is part of a process. Indeed, most NFL teams already have put together their preliminary boards for the 2022 draft based on the grades that their scouts have produced based on game tape and other related analysis. Teams will then tweak those grades based on what happens at the combine and pro days. However, the notion that teams go out and draft players who blow up the combine with out-of-this-world athletic performances is more myth than reality. In fact, while 4.2 40 times and the like make great headlines, the reality is that most teams use indicators like the 40 to check off boxes. Teams will have minimum size/speed ratios for every position and are really most interested in getting players within those particular parameters. And when a player does go out and post unexpectedly good combine numbers, what most teams do is go back to the tape and try and figure why that player’s productivity didn’t match their athleticism.
