Combine workouts start Thursday … The first group of players at the scouting combine in Indianapolis will hit the field tomorrow for their on-field physical testing and positional drills. The first group includes the defensive linemen and LBs with the on-field session getting underway around 3 PM ET. That represents a major change from earlier years when the testing started much earlier in the day. Needless to say, the change is predicated primarily on increasing the TV audience, but there were always complaints from players and their agents about having to run at 10 in the morning. The on-field stuff will be carried by the NFL Network. And its going to be a very busy day for the DL and LBs in Indianapolis as they’ll go through the weigh-in and measurement sessions earlier in the day. Then on Friday, the DBs and TEs will do their on-field testing, again at 3 PM ET, while the QBs, WRs and RBs will go at 1 PM ET on Saturday with the offensive linemen to wrap it all up on Sunday again at 1 PM ET. A couple of notes to keep in mind: first, there always tends to be some discrepancies between the unofficial 40 times announced as the players run and officials times which get reported somewhat later. The other thing to keep in mind is that while the really fast times tend to get the media headlines, the 40, the vertical leap and the other tests are in reality just as much exercises in checking boxes; in particular, does a player run fast enough to be able to play the position in the NFL.
