On Feb. 20, more than 300 NFL hopefuls will begin to take the field at Lucas Oil Stadium in front of a legion of scouts, general managers and coaches. They won’t be wearing pads, but an Under Armour body suit. They will be running and jumping and catching and shoving, hoping to make a good impression before conducting some interviews and heading home.
This is the madness known as the NFL Scouting Combine, an event held every year at Indianapolis. It is something which has become a mental landmark for many fans, signifying the beginning of the new season, only three weeks removed from the Super Bowl. A decade ago, almost nobody outside of NFL personnel could name where the combine was or what it meant. It was anonymous and unimportant to fans everywhere.
Then NFL Network decided to make it a huge deal, and it is. Hundreds of press passes will be granted for the Underwear Olympics, while analysts breathlessly talk about a player running a fast 40-yard dash or just how amazing his catch radius is.
The reality? The combine is going to change very few opinions within the league. Scouts and general managers have been pouring over hours and hours of film, interviewing coaches and players at the collegiate level. These players have already been quietly under the microscope for years. Having a bad drill surrounded by random players and coaches is not going to alter many notions.
Still, seeing the combine does remind us that the draft is coming up. Even though the first round will not get underway until April 30, the process is in full swing. Following the combine, the focus will briefly turn to free agency in a few weeks when names like Ndamukong Suh, Randall Cobb, Dez Bryant, Justin Houston, Demaryius Thomas and Byron Maxwell hit the market. Once the chaos dies down and the elite players are off the board, the draft will once more take center stage.
Pro days will be the final piece of the puzzle for executives. Usually, these are nothing but perfectly run showcases for the players at their home stadium, unless you are Teddy Bridgewater. Then it is a nightmare that costs you millions of dollars.
So get ready, folks. Here comes the neverending mock drafts and the player comparisons, with every player in the top 10 projected to be a Hall of Famer and a can’t-miss. Of course, some will miss, just ask JaMarcus Russell.
Perhaps that is what makes the draft talk fun. It is trying to see what others don’t, wading through the nonsense to get through the truth. Here’s to hoping you can withstand the impending information storm and that your team can make the correct call.