Is the NFL Scouting Combine taken too seriously?

The NFL scouting combine is off and running, and to be honest, I have been more interested in what Stephen Jones said on Wednesday.

The combine is just a reminder that the start of NFL free agency, and the draft are on the horizon.

Is the Combine Taken too Seriously?

The Scouting Combine clearly has a meaning, and it helps teams get an idea of what type of shape most of these guys are in, but didn’t the college season end a little over a month ago?

Think about this…

Things tend to change drastically when a player puts on the pads.

My Twitter feed has been loaded with reporters, annalist, scouts, and many more parsing how fast a player ran the 40, or what their vertical is.

EDGE Dallas Turner official combine results:

40-yard dash: 4.46 (1st among EDGE)
10-yard split: 1.54 (t-1st)
Vertical: 40.5" (1st)
Broad: 10'7" (t-2nd) https://t.co/iAMoeoxj6Q pic.twitter.com/2N6e4ZMzb8

— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) March 1, 2024

If we could go back and look at how many times any of this actually matters, it would probably be more times than not.

Ask a player how many times after he was drafted that he had to run the 40-yard dash. He will answer none.

That’s because while the idea of the test is the right one (gauging a player’s speed and acceleration), all the factors going into it and the fact that it doesn’t translate to the game make it obsolete.

Understand the Point of the Combine

I am not completely hating on it, because I understand the point, I just think it is a waste of time for some.

I want to see what you do on the field in pads when it matters.

Every single person there is a good athlete or they wouldn’t have been invited, but if teams want you enough, they don’t need to see what you do there.

They watched you on Saturdays while in college.

The combine never gets old for me. I love it.

— Daniel Jeremiah (@MoveTheSticks) March 1, 2024

The combine is an invitation-only event, hosted by the league to let the players know their place in the hierarchy before they’ve even earned a paycheck.

The message of the combine is to be grateful you are here, yet if it is invite-only, they shouldn’t need to show off any more than they already have.

Let the kids who didn’t shine nearly as much in college get a chance.

Cowboys Eyes

The Cowboys have a handful of formal and informal visits already, every single one of them involved players on either the defensive line or at linebacker.

The front office clearly sees the same problem as we do. The inability to stop the run has haunted them for two years in a row.

From our Combine coverage on @NFLNetwork: On all things QB… pic.twitter.com/zlD38ulDG2

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 29, 2024

Either side of the ball is good enough when it mattered in the playoffs this season, and it can’t continue.

Look, I just don’t enjoy watching the combine.

I watch enough college football to see what players put on tape.

More than half of the players that do well at the combine, don’t last more than a few years in the league.

The Cowboys window is closing and while they will probably extend Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, and Micah Parsons, you need more than that to win.

The increase in the salary cap should help, but we are going to have to wait and see if Stephen and Jerry Jones do anything with it.