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. Only this year, we really mean it! Last year, of course, the combine was cancelled because of concerns about Covid. Instead the NFL got the medical testing done by third-party clinics around the country, while the on-field testing was conducted at the various school’s pro days and the interviews were done remotely. And even though there was no formal combine last year, the NFL/combine still released the names of the 320 or so prospects who would have been invited to Indianapolis and in the end over 90% of the players selected at the 2021 draft were on that list. Interestingly, that was even a somewhat higher figure than normal as around 87% of players drafted over the past decade had been invited to the combine. And that’s no real surprise, as the players invited to the combine are the ones that teams want to see and that historically the players that participate in the combine make up the large majority of those drafted overall.
Players invited to the combine also make almost all of those selected in the early rounds. Indeed, the last non-combine player selected within the first three rounds was former Murray State LB Quincy Williams who was selected 98th overall by Jacksonville in 2019 with a compensatory pick at the end of the 3rd round. Last year, former Iowa State RB Kene Nwangwu, who was selected 119th overall by Minnesota mid-way thru the 4thy round, was the first non-combine player selected, while former Central Florida WR Jake Harris was taken late in the same round by the LA Rams. However, even in the later rounds, the large majority of players selected come from the combine. This past year, for example, 86% of 6th round picks were at the combine, while the figure was 77% for those selected in the 7th round.
It is also interesting to note that last year all ten QBs who were drafted were at the combine, as were all the TEs, as well as 30 of the 31 DEs selected and all but two of the 56 offensive linemen. In fact, the one position that dominated among non-combine draftees was CB. Indeed, almost half of the 23 non-combine players who were drafted in 2021 were corners.
