Combine decision looming … According to a report by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the NFL will decide as early as this week how to proceed with the annual pre-draft scouting combine. The league has held the combine in the last week of February for years, but according to the report it is questionable for this year because of concerns related to the pandemic and the league is exploring its options. According to Schefter, the league has debated numerous ways to approach the combine: ‘have it in a reduced form in Indianapolis in February, push it back to April, or simply just use regional combines that would eliminate the need for many of the prospects to travel to Indianapolis, as they regularly have done for the past three-plus decades.’ In fact, the key line in the report seems to be that “the combine as people knew it will not take place.” However, if the combine is in fact pushed back it could mean that the start of free agency as well as the dates for the draft could also be impacted. Stay tuned. Meanwhile, we have reached out to the Senior Bowl, which is scheduled to get underway in just over two weeks, to see if there is any news on the status of the premier all-star game. So far, there is no indication that the Senior Bowl could be cancelled or postponed, but there are reports that organizers are having some difficulty in finding coaching staffs willing to take on the responsibility. In the past, the teams in each division with the worst record that were not replacing their coaching staffs got the honor, but there was always a ‘voluntary’ aspect to the job. And it doesn’t sound like anyone is all that keen to volunteer this year.
