With the Super Bowl closing the book on another NFL season, the NFL Scouting Combine is the unofficial start to the next season. It is the first major event in the new league year with hundreds of college prospects descending on Indianapolis to take part in many important tests of physical and mental fitness to make it to the NFL.
The 2024 NFL Scouting Combine is set to begin on February 29 and will last through the weekend until March 4. Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis will once again play host to the multi-day event.
We take a look at the history of the combine and why it is an important event in the NFL process for rookies leading into the draft.
History of the Combine
Even though travel is easier in today’s world, the NFL Scouting Combine is just a smarter way of doing business for the 32 teams. Think of it like a huge job fair for college kids who want to be NFL players next season.
321 prospects invited to 2024 NFL Scouting Combinehttps://t.co/IEH22sKi90 pic.twitter.com/jeFeFVB5b6
— NFL Draft (@NFLDraft) February 13, 2024
By hosting the combine at a centralized location like Indianapolis, you can invite hundreds of deserving prospects to the event and have the coaches, general managers and scouting departments from all 32 teams meet with them to put them through physical and mental tests.
Before 1982, all the NFL teams had to schedule their own visits with prospects and put them through these tests. This could be very time-consuming work and trying to meet a player in California and then another in Florida could really stress your staff. More than 300 players receive invitations to the combine each year.
While private workouts and pro days still exist, the combine just simplifies this process by having as many good prospects come to Indy each February to meet with the teams.
Look for the full list of NFL Combine invites to be announced soon.
Here is the schedule for the week in Indy: pic.twitter.com/3rjX6JMQ1T
— Dane Brugler (@dpbrugler) February 8, 2024
The NFL can thank Cowboys legend Tex Schramm for the idea of the combine. The legendary general manager of the Cowboys suggested it to the NFL competition committee in the 1980s and the first one was conducted in 1982 in Tampa, Florida. A few more camps were in operation until 1985 when the national invitational camp was consolidated and renamed the NFL Scouting Combine.
After holding the combine in Arizona in 1985 and New Orleans in 1986, it moved to Indianapolis, home of the Colts, permanently in 1987.
For many years, the scouting combine was off-limits to cameras and media coverage. But over the years, NFL draft coverage became more popular and in demand this time of year. Thanks to the creation of the NFL Network in 2003 and the need for off-season content, the combine became a televised event for the 1st time in 2004 with the airing of 6 hour-long shows to cover the event.
Even the simulcam guy beat Rich Eisen at the 40-yard dash 🙃
📺: #NFLCombine pic.twitter.com/iQ0J1cn94U
— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) March 4, 2019
Today, the NFL Network provides more than 30 hours of live coverage from the combine, including the player drills. It also has become an annual spectacle to see NFL Network host Rich Eisen run the 40-yard dash time in a suit.
Rich Eisen’s 40-yard dash time ⏰
Under 6.03 seconds -130
Over 6.03 seconds -110Bet the #NFL Combine ⤵️https://t.co/tyw8JMfsu0 pic.twitter.com/mk494u8JOc
— BetOnline.ag (@BetOnline_eu) March 2, 2022
Types of Tests at the NFL Scouting Combine
The following list shows the types of physical and mental tests players typically endure at the combine each year:
- 40-yard dash
- 20-yard shuffle
- 60-yard shuffle
- 3 cone drill
- Bench press
- Vertical jump
- Broad jump
- Position drills
- Drug screening
- Wonderlic test
- Physical examination and injury history
The value of the drills, individually, can differ greatly based on position. That is why it is better to consider the overall performance of the player, and what they did on tape in college is still going to matter significantly. For example, if a wide receiver runs a weak 40-yard dash but does well in the 20-yard shuffle, then that player may just have better short-area quickness and can still be a productive player at the next level.
Some drills may not be valuable at all for certain positions. For instance, offensive linemen are rarely going to run 40 yards in a straight line during a game, so the value of that number may not be very useful. But if they want to play cornerback? You better have some speed for that position to keep up with these wideouts.
However, the NFL combine has been heavily criticized over the years as well. The optics are not always great when young men, many of whom are African-American, are lined up and asked to strip down to their shorts as people with more power pick and prod through their history, measure their physical attributes and question their intelligence like some kind of human cattle call audition.
Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick once compared the treatment of athletes at the NFL combine to slavery. Regardless of how you feel about that, having someone measure your hand size and question if you can play football after a long college career of throwing the pigskin has to feel a little icky.
Small Hands, Full Hearts?
Hand-size measurements are always on display at the combine. Some think having small hands means you can’t play quarterback in the NFL. Pittsburgh quarterback Kenny Pickett had the smallest recent measurement at 8.5 inches. Pickett also has the lowest touchdown pass rate in NFL history, so maybe there is something to this.
Still, it starts looking shady when you see that Joe Burrow, Jared Goff, and Ryan Tannehill all measured at 9 inches, or that Mark Sanchez was on the highest end at 10.5 inches. I guess it was his teammate’s butt and not his big hands that caused the Butt Fumble for Sanchez in 2012.
Beyond the physical examinations, a cognitive test such as the Wonderlic has also been under scrutiny for not translating well to on-field success and fueling racial stereotypes. The positions that usually score highest on the Wonderlic are offensive tackles, centers and quarterbacks. The positions scoring the lowest are usually running backs, wide receivers, and cornerbacks.
When people started complaining that a player could score too high on the 50-question test and have that be a problem, it seemed like the Wonderlic’s days were numbered. Sure enough, in 2022 the NFL Combine removed the Wonderlic from its series of tests for players.
Why Is the NFL Scouting Combine So Important?
The NFL Scouting Combine remains an important event as it gives all 32 teams the chance to reset their draft boards by getting in front of these prospects and learning so much valuable information about them.
Not only do you get all the physical data, but you can talk to the player in interviews, get to know what makes them tick and if they’d be a good fit for your team and it allows the player to sell themselves as a good draft pick that should strongly be considered in April.
The combine is a great chance for a player to raise their stock by having a big performance. Maybe their college tape didn’t stand out as much, but a big combine can help them get drafted several rounds sooner than they would have just based on film.
Gems in the Rough
You can argue if these were the right moves, but the 2022 combine significantly helped the draft prospects for defensive end Travon Walker and wide receiver Christian Watson. Walker went from maybe a mid-round pick in the 1st round to the No. 1 overall pick by Jacksonville because of how athletic he was at the combine. Likewise, Watson went from a mid-round grade to the No. 34 pick by Green Bay.
Aaron Jones welcomes his teammate Christian Watson to the @Packers. 🔥@Showtyme_33 | @ChristianW2017
📺: 2022 #NFLDraft on NFLN/ESPN/ABC pic.twitter.com/Y9CE8P2WLJ
— NFL (@NFL) April 29, 2022
Of course, we can say Walker has been slow to live up to that No. 1 pick status in Jacksonville and Watson has been constantly injured for the Packers. But the draft is always a crapshoot like this. The combine is just an attempt to gather more data on a prospect and help teams decide if they want to take the chance on them in April.
On a lighter note, the NFL combine gives the media something to talk about before we head into the free agency and draft portions of the year. Prospects see their stocks rise and fall, new coaches get to talk to the media for one of the first times and it’s all just new content to prop up (or knock down) the next crop of players to enter the NFL.
