Teams, players start arriving in Indy as combine set to go … Literally as we speak, NFL coaches and personnel people, along with the players, have begun arriving in Indianapolis for the start of the annual scouting combine which gets underway tomorrow. However, there have been some changes to the schedule and the format. As usual, the players will be divided into 4 groups – the QBs, WRs and TEs, OL; offensive linemen and RBs; defensive linemen and LBs; and defensive backs and specialists, but the order has been changed. It used to be the combine started with the OL and RBs, followed by the QBs and receivers, the DL and LBs and finally the DBs. This year, though, the first group will be the DL/LBs, followed by the DBs, then the QBs and receivers and wrap with the OL and RBs. That appears to have been done to get the QBs and receivers doing their on-field stuff next Saturday for TV. At the same time, whereas in the past, each group was in Indianapolis for 4 days, their combine activities will now be spread out over 5 days with the bench press, which used to be held on the 3rd day, the day before the actual on-field testing, now being held on the 5th day. One other change to note is the fact that the weigh-in/measurement sessions, which used to be held early in the week, will now be conducted the same day as the on-field testing. For the record, the week for each group breaks down something as follows
Day one: Registration and orientation
Day two: General medical testing and pre-ordered studies
Day three: Ortho exams; NFLPA meeting and media interviews
Day four: Measurements and on-field testing and positional drills
Day five: Bench press and departure
The actual on-field testing phase of the combine begins this coming Thursday with the defensive linemen and LBs on the field; the DBs and specialists then go on Friday, while, as noted, the QBs and receivers will work out on Saturday, while the offensive linemen and RBs wrap the week next Sunday. Of course, not all players will do the full on-field workout. As a general rule, for example, players dealing with injuries don’t work out, while others, often on the advice of their agents, opt not to participate in some, or all, on-field activities and instead wait for their pro day or private workout. And while nobody from the NFL is happy when players opt not to work out, there has never been any evidence that any of those players have ever seen their grade slip because of the non-participation.
Meanwhile, every NFL team can interview up to 60 combine participants for 15 minutes and those interviews are conducted in the evenings of the first three days the players are in Indianapolis. And while, the on-field testing, especially the 40-yard dashes, get most of the media attention, the primary purpose of the combine has been to centralize the medical testing so that as mush as possible they are subjected to only one set of x-rays rather than 32. Also note that players with more serious injury issues will be asked to return to Indianapolis for some follow-up testing closer to the draft early in April.
