Path to the draft runs thru Indy … Every year we make that statement referring to the fact that the scouting combine in Indianapolis is an indisputably a key element of the pre-draft process. Last year, for example, almost 85% of all players selected at the 2022 draft participated in some way in the combine. However, that is actually down slightly from previous years when around 87% of players drafted over the past decade had been invited to the combine. It is also down from 2021 when the combine was cancelled because of Covid but the league did release a list players that would have been invited to Indianapolis that year, 90% of whom were ultimately selected at the 2021 draft. And the fact that most drafted players were combine participants is no real surprise as the players invited to the combine are the ones that teams want to see.
Players invited to the combine also make almost all of those selected in the early rounds. Indeed, just one non-combine player was selected within the first three rounds of this past April’s draft. That was former LSU CB Tyrion Davis-Price, who was selected with the 93rd pick late in the third round. In fact, the large majority of non-combine players are selected in the very late rounds. Last year, for example, 36 of drafted non-combine participants were selected in the 6th or 7th rounds. In fact, for the first time ever, non-combine made up a majority, albeit very slim (52%) of players selected in the 7th round, while it was 36% of 6th rounders.
It is also interesting to note that last year LBs and DBs made up just over half of all non-combine participants who were ultimately draft. In fact, roughly two-thirds of all drafted non-combine participants played defence while barely 1 in 3 were offensive guys. Indeed, just two offensive not invited to the combine last year were drafted, while almost 95% of all OTs, OGs and Cs who were selected last April were at the combine. Meanwhile, the percentage of drafted players who were at the combine ranged from around 90% for WRs and DEs to around 75% for LBs, CBs and safeties.
For the record, this year’s combine gets underway in just ten days on February 27th when the first group of players arrives, and runs through March 5th with on-field drills set to start on Thursday, March 2nd. Here is the list of players invited to this year’s combine.
