When is the NFL Combine?
The NFL combine is an important event for everyone across the league, as it offers a platform that is pivotal to a prospects journey from an amateur athlete to a NFL Professional. Let’s find out what the NFL combine is all about?
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The “NFL Scouting Combine” name came into effect after the National, BLESTO and Quadra camps combined for the 1985 event. It gives coaches and executives an up-close and personal look at hundreds of prospects hoping to be drafted in April.
The event is the best chance for some of the top college football players in the country to show off their skills to NFL general managers, coaches, scouts, media, NFL legends and fans. Prospects can make or break their draft stock depending on how they test in the combine, with participation being an invite only affair.
All 32 teams provide input on draft-eligible prospects, and the player selection committee then reviews and votes on each eligible athlete. The goal is to invite every player who will be selected in the NFL draft, according to the NFL combine rulebook.
Where is the NFL Combine Held?
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The National Football Scouting Incorporation (NFS) held the first National Invitational Camp in Tampa Bay, Florida in 1982. The camp welcomed 163 players as 16 member clubs acquired medical information on prospects.
While the National Invitational Camp was designed to be a single location to share medical information, not every team went at first. BLESTO and Quadra Scouting, each, ran a camp of their own until 1984.
In 1985, the three camps merged and the NFL chose to have the NFS run the centralized event. The move helped the three organizations split costs. It benefited teams, as well, by allowing a setting to collect more in-depth medical, physical and psychological intel on players.
The NFL combine is held in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Stadium. The location has remained unchanged for 38 years. Prior to moving to Indiana, the first two NFS combines were held in Tampa Bay Florida in 1982 and 1983, before heading to New Orleans Louisiana in 1984. Arizona was the site for the first post-merge combine in 1985, before going back to New Orleans in 1986.
Indianapolis first hosted the combine at the Hoosier Dome in 1987 and has hosted the event each season since, with the exception of 2021, when the in-person combine was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Recently, the combine location has been a subject for debate, with the league holding a bidding process for the 2023 and 2024 combines. The league considered various cities such as Dallas and Los Angeles as hosts, mirroring the rotational approach implemented in the Super Bowl and NFL draft. However, after careful consideration, Indianapolis retained the hosting rights but the dynamic might change by 2028.
What Happens During the NFL Combine?
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The NFL combine did not allow cameras to cover the event for nearly two decades. A major change came in 2003, when NFL Network was launched. The 2004 combine was covered in daily segments and it has evolved into a primetime TV event for 2023.
The NFL scouting combine currently runs for four days, from Thursday through to Sunday.
The event includes a variety of tests that help to help evaluate prospects. There are the general tests and position-specific drills that are factored in evaluating players.
Below are the general tests:
40-yard dash
Bench press of 225 pounds
Vertical jump
Broad jump
20-yard shuttle
Three-cone drill
60-yard shuttle
Interviews (each team is allowed 60 interviews in 15-minute intervals)
Physical and injury evaluations
Drug screening
Cybex test
Wonderlic test
There are also position-specific drills for each group of players. Quarterbacks, for example, go through a series of throwing drills. Receivers, as you might expect, have their catching skills tested in different drills, and so on.
The 2024 NFL Scouting Combine
The 2024 NFL scouting combine witnessed a talented pool of colligate players that generated a lot of buzz. Quarterbacks such as Caleb Williams from the University of Southern Carolina (USC), Jayden Daniels from Louisiana State University (LSU) and Drake Maye from the University of North Carolina (UNC) all garnered a lot of hype.
Others to join them were standout wide receivers including: Marvin Harrison Jr. from the Ohio State University, Rome Odunze from the University of Washington and Malik Nabers from (LSU) along with tight end Brock Bowers from the University of Georgia.
Some of the top defenders in the 2024 class at the combine included: Nate Wiggins from Clemson University, Jared Verse from Florida State University, Dallas Turner from the University of Alabama and Byron Murphy II from the University of Texas.
Ian Mugo Wanyeki is based in Nairobi, Kenya. He is a sports enthusiast with vast knowledge of different sport disciplines. Ian is a graduate with a Bachelor’s of Science degree from Kenyatta University. He is a Kenyan journalist who’s worked as a sports analyst at Covenant Television Network, as a sports reporter at NTV and as a Sports Correspondent/contributor at Quartz Africa.