The NFL Combine still matters, even when it doesn't

It's totally fine that some of the top prospects opt out of the workout portion nowadays.

When I first started covering football, the week of the NFL Combine was a grind. We’d have to log every participant’s measurements and results in each event as quickly as possible, as well as be ready to break off a separate article in case a player had an incredible (or horrendous) performance. 

I don’t pay nearly as much attention to the combine these days as I used to, though I keep tabs on the biggest or strangest news out of Indianapolis from the reporters who do attend. That’s kind of a metaphor for the combine itself these days: It’s not as big of a deal as it once was, but it’s still useful. 

We saw as much this past week, when the main narrative going into the combine was about how the very top prospects had decided to sit out the drills. Then, as other NFL hopefuls dazzled us with their athleticism, their hair, their deep ball, and their record-setting 40 time, more stories began to emerge, and fans and NFL teams alike got a slightly better sense of what these guys can do at the next level. 

Before I go into a bit more detail about how prospects can still help themselves during the combine, I first want to sound off about why we shouldn’t worry about the ones who opt out of the workout portion. 

The kids are alright

Over the last decade or so, I’ve seen a lot of online discourse that tries to pit different generations against each other. I find most of it to be extremely annoying, but maybe that’s because my generation (millennials) has been blamed for everything that is supposedly wrong with young people, even today, despite the oldest of our brethren heading into “time to schedule a colonoscopy” age. 

I may not be 20 anymore, but that doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten what it feels like to be 20 or when older generations treat you with disdain (again, this is still happening to millennials!). And I don’t want to do that to Gen Z or Gen Alpha. I want to show them grace. 

So I became a bit rankled when I saw one anonymous general manager refer to them as “the opt-out generation” to Charles Robinson. In fairness to him, he went on to note that several head coaches — for example: Sean McVay, Mike McCarthy — and GMs don’t even attend the event, which “might say more about the evolution of the combine than a generation of players deciding what they won’t do.”

I calmed down when I read the rest of his quote because I agree with him on that point. Then I kept reading and got angry again. This time, it was due to a quote from an unnamed executive, who said, “Guys opt out of high school games, college bowls, all-star games, combine, pro days. It’s the new normal. The arrogance of it all.”

The arrogance? These players put their bodies on the line for this sport. It’s not arrogant for them to invest in themselves and protect themselves from anything that could cost them millions of dollars. 

As for Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye, and Marvin Harrison Jr., there was nothing for them to gain by doing drill work at the combine. Barring any trades or unforeseen circumstances, they should be the first four picks in the draft. They have nothing to prove on the field. Why should they risk an injury, like what happened to Nate Wiggins and several offensive linemen over the weekend or David Ojabo at his pro day two years ago? (Nor should they risk an injury in non-playoff bowl games, which were rendered meaningless not by the players, but by college football itself.)

They are not being divas or acting entitled for standing on their (excellent) college tape. The same is true for Williams electing to share his medical tests with a select number of teams. Why should all 32 franchises be privy to that kind of private information? 

The same is true for MHJ, who declined to speak with the media and some of the asinine questions that come from it, and instead saved his interviews for the teams he met with in Indianapolis. If you want evidence that he can handle the press, then pull up any number of interviews that he did on a weekly basis during his time at Ohio State. If you want evidence that he’s not a nepo baby¹, then talk to any coach who has ever been around him and raved about his work ethic. 

Older generations should want better for those who come after them. That’s what these young men are doing: They know their worth, and they’re taking more ownership over themselves and their future. That’s something we should support, not decry. 

The combine still serves a purpose

Even if the bigger stars tend to limit their participation in the combine, the event has continued to help prospects boost their stock, in ways that we can see (individual drills) and in ways that we can’t (one-on-one interviews with teams). 

Some players can use the combine to answer questions anyone has about them. Two older quarterbacks, Michael Penix Jr. and Bo Nix, are coming off terrific senior seasons but aren’t surefire starters at the next level. At the combine, Penix Jr. wowed with his arm (no surprise) and more importantly, his medical tests didn’t seem to raise any red flags. Nix also flashed his accuracy while his arm strength looked fine. Although I still think both are likely second-round picks, it wouldn’t be shocking if either sneaked into the first round.  

Even after a mostly solid combine, J.J. McCarthy remains the most polarizing QB prospect this year. He can’t throw to the left to save his life, but the combination of his age (21) and athleticism means he’ll probably be drafted earlier than expected. And he did enough over the weekend for one team to take a chance on him in the top 12 or so picks.

Sam Hartman was the only quarterback who ran the 40, which is the combine’s most high-profile event even as it becomes less important. None of the evaluators will ding the other QBs for skipping it, but Hartman’s willingness to do it might have impressed teams looking to draft a quarterback in one of the later rounds. 

While Rome Odunze would be WR1 in many other draft classes, most rankings place him behind Harrison Jr. and Malik Nabers. So even if Odunze didn’t really have anything to prove, he might have felt like he did — and he delivered. 

Xavier Worthy did too, albeit in a different way: He ran the fastest 40-yard dash the NFL Combine has ever seen (4.21 seconds). His small size is an issue but he plays bigger than he is, and his speed might have helped land him in the first round. The opposite could be true for Keon Coleman, who ran a relatively slow 40 yet was a monster in the gauntlet, similar to Puka Nacua last year.

I just highlighted some of the most notable names, but you can find other less well-known prospects on various winner’s lists. Braden Fiske, a Western Michigan-to-FSU defensive tackle, went from a fringe Day 2 pick to a solid second-rounder (and possibly a late first-rounder) after his awesome combine. Toledo’s Quinyon Mitchell might now be projected as the first cornerback drafted this year. New Hampshire running back Dylan Laube needed a strong performance and he gave one, which means he should hear his name called during the draft. South Dakota State OL Mason McCormick and Garret Greenfield, the latter of whom set a record in the vertical jump, also benefited from the combine experience.

As teams learned more about the prospects, so did us fans. We got a peek at their personalities, whether it was Odunze’s humorous honesty, Williams’ friendliness, Hartman speeding through a word association game (my favorite response was “candy” after he was asked “crush”), or more concerning, Tyler Owens’ “belief” that space isn’t real and Tip Reiman’s bird conspiracy theory. 

We also got a better idea of what this draft class overall brings to the table — if you need a wide receiver or offensive lineman, this is your year! — and how the first round will shake out. Spoiler alert: expect a lot of offensive players to be drafted on Day 1. 

There’s almost two months until the draft takes place, but the combine provided a little more clarity about what will happen on those three days. Still, the combine isn’t the be-all, end-all part of the pre-draft process. Then again, it never was. It’s always only been one part of the puzzle for draft prospects. Interviews, team workouts, and game tape most of all serve as other methods to evaluate them. That hasn’t changed, even if the hype surrounding the combine has for the most elite players.

1. Let’s be honest: Does anyone believe that Marvin Harrison would raise a nepo baby?