INDIANAPOLIS – Things have felt unmistakably normal here this week.
The NFL scouting combine has returned to its usual home, and all the traditions that come with the week are back, too.
That means full tables at the legendary St. Elmo Steak House, and a crowded bar at Prime 47, the favored nightlife spot of media members, agents, coaches and various other members of the NFL orbit who make this an annual stop.
“To me, it's a lot more personal when we can interact like this than it is over Zoom or in a bubble. That's just my opinion,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said.
Conducting news conferences is just a small part of the itineraries of players, coaches and executives. Teams are able to conduct formal interviews with draft prospects, while also viewing on-field testing.
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“I think there's a lot of value in coming here – in addition to speaking with you all,” McDermott said. “You guys come here to do a job. I come here to do a job. … We haven't gotten to where we're trying to get to. I could tell you, when we do, I'm still going to come here. I just feel like this is an important part of the process of improving for us, the Buffalo Bills, improving our football team.”
Not every coach has fallen in line with that thinking, however. Notably, Super Bowl champion coach Sean McVay and general manager Les Snead of the Los Angeles Rams aren't here this week, though, the team is represented by some scouts and assistant coaches. That raises the question of whether the combine has outlived its usefulness.
“I’m not saying that there’s not value in it, but we felt like it was more valuable to stay back and do what we’re doing now,” McVay told reporters. “I think there’s real value in being able to go down on the field and see these guys work out and get some movement. I also think there’s real value to have a lot of the people that have roles and responsibilities that are in alignment with evaluating those guys where sometimes it can be a more efficient usage of our time to stay back and really dive into the film, especially when you get such a late start like we did.”
The combine has been held in Indianapolis since 1987. It has not always been a made-for-TV event as it is today.
“The original premise was to get the medical information, have it done under one roof, and have it done as efficiently and completely as possible,” former Bills General Manager Bill Polian said in an article published recently by the website the 33rd Team. “That’s the reason for the existence of the combine.”
Since that time, it has grown into a massive event for the league. This year’s event features more than 50 hours of television coverage on NFL Network of the 324 invited prospects, coaches and executives.
There has been some question, though, about what the future of the combine will look like, and that doesn’t have anything to do with Covid-19 protocols, which were officially suspended by the league Thursday, effective immediately.
Agents have long complained that the players’ schedules, which are jam-packed for five days, lead to subpar performances.
Here’s a look at how the week is structured for quarterbacks, running backs and tight ends:
- Monday: Arrive in Indianapolis, register, pre-exams, orientation, team interviews.
- Tuesday: General medical exam, potential special studies, team interviews.
- Wednesday: Media sessions, team interviews, NFLPA meeting.
- Thursday: Measurements, on-field drills.
- Friday: Depart Indianapolis.
Given that players are usually creatures of habit, it’s easy to see how that type of schedule, which is much different than the training they’ve been doing the past two months, might lead to a shaky performance. Then add the stress that comes with the biggest job interview of their lives. Given that schools all hold pro days, which allow players to work out on the field in more favorable settings, do they really need to work out here, too?
Maybe not, but at least according to Bills General Manager Brandon Beane, there is other value in being here.
“It's good to be back here and not on Zoom, first off,” he said Tuesday. “Last night we were able to do interviews in person and get to meet some of these guys and kind of feel their personality through the night.”
Philadelphia Eagles coach Nick Sirianni, a Jamestown native, agrees that being in person has its advantages.
“I just value this time to be able to look the player in the eye,” he said. “It's not like you get that with every player. You have a certain number of formal interviews that I'm able to sit in there for.
"You're able to sit there, look them in the eye, see his body language, see how he answers different questions, and then to see him work out in person.
“Again, this is a piece of the puzzle. There are many pieces to the puzzle that go into it. We have 30 visits coming up and we have pro days and private workouts and Zoom interviews. There are so many different opportunities to meet the player. I'm not going to be able to go to every pro day, to go to every private workout or anything like that, so it's good to be able to get my eyes on them here. It’s good to be able to see – I'm 6-foot-3. It's good to be able to stand next to them or look at his legs and be like, ‘Oh, this guy is 6-3, or he's got thick legs.’ Whatever it is. It's good to be around the guys and see them work out and get to put a face to who you've been watching on tape.”
Sirianni also is able to accomplish something in person that would be impossible over video conference – he’s brought in a small basketball hoop, which he uses to gauge a prospect’s competitiveness. Last year, Sirianni did that by playing rock-paper-scissors over Zoom against prospects.
“So last year I don't think everyone liked my rock, paper, scissors stuff,” Sirianni joked. “In all seriousness, if we can figure out when we get in there a little bit of their competitiveness, if we can get a little sense of that, that's a plus, right? We'll do anything to figure out some of the answers to the test, right? … We'll do what we need to do to do that.”
Sirianni said he might not always get all the answers by shooting a few baskets with a prospect, but he’s had good experiences doing it in the past, including with current Eagles quarterback Gardner Minshew.
“Now, it was on a 10-foot hoop and we were in our indoor facility shooting baskets, and I got to know a lot about him from that,” Sirianni said. “It benefited us this year (when trading for Minshew), just me knowing a little bit about him and what makes him tick a little bit.
“You might come away from that and say, ‘I didn't get anything from that.’ One thing we do realize is that it’s a good icebreaker. It does lower the guard of the player a little bit to know that we like to have fun, we like to compete, and now let's get into the interview and get more of that information of what we want about your love for the game, your knowledge of the game.”
The location of future combines, starting with the 2023 event, is up for bidding, with Indianapolis, Dallas and Los Angeles under consideration next year.
