Everything You Need to Know About The NFL Combine
In this article we will answer several questions about the NFL combine including:
- History of NFL Combine
- How Players are selected
- NFL Combine Medical Questions
- What to do if you are not selected for NFL Combine
- Contact Info NFL Combine
- NFL Player Combine Tests
- Combine History
National Invitational Combine is one of the most prestigious talent evaluation events in the world. The National Invitational Camp was the name before it was known as the NFL Scouting Combine. The NFL Combine started in 1982 when National Football Scouting, Inc. first conducted an event for its member NFL Teams in warm Tampa, Florida.The key goal, purpose, and idea then, is the same as it is today, it was to better understand the medical condition information on the top draft-eligible NFL prospects in college football.The inaugural National Invitational Combine was attended by a total of 163 collegiate eligible players and established a historical foundation for future events and evaluation.
During the first three years, two additional invitational camps were held at different times to collect athletic, medial and other evaluation data for teams that did not belong to NFL evaluation group.
Combine 1985
But in 1985 all NFL teams determined they would participate in future National Invitational NFL Combine Events Camps with the understanding that the league and teams could benefit from the data and lower the cost by sharing costs for the medical examinations of NFL draft-eligible collegiate players.
The NFL Combine changed locations several times including places like After New Orleans in 1984, 1986, Arizona, in 1985. In 1987 the combine evaluation camp was moved to Indianapolis, Indiana.
As football understanding and the art of evaluating players have revolutionized, so has the method of eyeballing, testing, and proving talent. The NFL Scouting Combine is hands down the best evaluation platform for evaluating talent.
All sports have followed some form in this process including the National Basketball Association combine.
As always, understanding medical history as well as performing critical medical examinations remain the upmost priority goal of the combined event. Eligible athletes will also participate in a variety of mental, physical and athletic tests.
Additionally individual formal and unique interviews with special evaluators, owners, top executives, coaches, and scouts from all thirty-two NFL teams. The National Scouting Combine is the most important 5-day career interview for the top eligible college football players.
How are draft-eligible players selected for the NFL Combine?
All NFL teams are asked to provide suggestions on NFL draft-eligible players. This is used by the NFL Player Selection Committee to select each year’s NAtional Combine Invitation participants.
The Leaders of the National and BLESTO scouting services are combined with NFL people to form the committee.
The participating NFL executives can rotate every year, and remain anonymous.
ALL eligible players are evaluated and voted on by the committee members.
Athletes must receive the necessary number of votes by position to get an invitation.
While it is not a perfect science! The goal of the NFL combine committee is to invite every player that is estimated to be drafted.
Can I Compete at the Combine With a Legal Past?
Yes,
A large percentage of Americans have a legal past…we live in a society of accusations, legalities, and conflict. The key is learning from mistakes, knowing when to fight when to pray, when to be silent and when to grow and move past the challenges.
Thriving in Non-Ideal situations
From reading this process it sounds like they already have them picked. So again this isn’t an exact science. It could be if it were truly meritocracy based. So you must do everything you can to get to the combine. Often they will stop players from performing at the combine because of past problems in college.
Combine and Legal Issues
This is often a lot of smoke in mirrors where a school has or evaluator has done a player wrong which stops the player from participating from the combine. Sometimes you will see players unable to physical tests at the combine because of past legal issues.
This again is all shenanigans as over the years players with past legal, emotional, and variety of issues were allowed to participate.
When you see that they are trying to stop a player and they actually announce it is possibly related to them not allowing a player to participate because of other issues like they did not like the player, a coach had a problem with the player, the player was good but did not fit in at the college so somebody attempted to ROADBLOCK the athletes career by stopping them from competing at the combine.
Why is a Player Not Allowed to Compete at Combine
They realize there could be legal implications so they tried to set a precedent by not allowing the player to compete at the combine. Again if you are a parent, coach or representative plenty of players have competed at the combine with legal issues going on.
No different than a regular job, people can still get hired while possibly dealing with legal issues.
Yes, there is bias and still, the who you know factor, but it has gotten better over the years. The times when college coaches could limit athletes from reaching the next level are becoming less and less because of the evaluation process.
Players that may lack game time still have an opportunity to show themselves during the combine and collegiate pro day evaluation.
Furthermore, the NFL could get into legal trouble but not allowing a player to exercise his gifts. Additionally, this is just a bad look fo the NFL. The NFL has always been about discipline and respect for the game while providing a way for the disenfranchise or those from questionable past to redeem themselves. America loves redemption and so do football fans.
STEPS TO THE COMBINE
Add your PRO Day measurables to this player profile database
Junior year evaluation pro day, which is typically in Feb – April, before your senior year of eligibility.
On your Junior day, they take your height, weight, 40 yard dash time, vertical jump, broad jump, and other measurables.
They will also evaluate your game film from your Junior year.
My Personal Measurables
(I started 44 games in college and but this is what hurt me. My college coach refused to let me play my natural position of cornerback in my junior year. And forced me to play safety. So NFL evaluators were looking at game film of me as safety and not cornerback. I ended up starting my senior year at Cornerback recording 5 interceptions, 12 pass breakups. During the four years, I had 17 interceptions and 23 pass breakups. By the evaluation season I was on draft lists as a later round – free agent)
My measurements were off the charts as I played three sports in high school and lettered and ran track and football in college.
My measurables by NFL scouts were 41.5 in vertical, 10’11” broad jump, 4.15 20-yard shuttle, ten reps 225, and 4.42 40-yard dash all verified measurables. 5’11” 175, 3.5% body fat while starving in college. Additionally, I graduated in MIS before my senior year of football.
The next step in the combine evaluation process is your season evaluation.
During this time, scouts will cross-check data with regional scouts, as different sources will be at different college games.
Then you start the process of getting your college season grade of senior year.
After the season they evaluate bowl games and all-star games.
Scouts finalize on a pre-combine grade by cross-checking again with other areas NFL college evaluation scouts.
You will now need to be on the National or Blesto list to get invited.
Here is the list of National and Blesto membership in the NFL as of 2015:
12 Evaluation Teams in BLESTO that makeup combine selection committee
(ATLANTA, BUFFALO, CHICAGO, CLEVELAND, DALLAS, DETROIT, HOUSTON, JACKSONVILLE, MIAMI, MINNESOTA, NYG, PIT).
15 Subscribers to the National
(Arizona, CAR, CIN, DEN, GB, KC, NO, NY JETS, PHI, STL, SD, SF49ers, SEA, TBBucs, TEN).
Five teams out of the thirty-two NFL teams are not with either organization: NOTE The New England Patriots are on this list. Maybe Belichick chooses to not share information.
Typically 20 – 40 of the top players at each position will be selected to attend the combine.
Combine Player Selection
NCAA football players in their final year of collegiate eligibility.
Players who have been selected to participate in the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine AND whose college season has been completed (including championships and Bowl games), will be notified of their selection by January.
Invitations for completing the required registration will be sent to the player’s email address provided at college pro day last Spring.
If you are an eligible Senior and viable candidate to be selected and either did not provide an email address previously, have changed your email address or wish to make sure they have the correct address, you should email playeremail@nfs-nic.com .
Combine Phone Number
Note that the email account is designed to communicate a player’s email address only, so no one will reply to your message.
Beginning by the first week of January 2020, any player who is eligible for the 2020 NFL Draft AND whose college season has been completed, may contact the
If any questins call Combine office at (317) 687-8100 or (800) 331-9135 to find out their NFL Combine selection status.
The Combine staff will only discuss the status directly with the player, but family, coach or representative can be on the phone with the player.
Combine Invitation
Selected players who have games remaining in their college season will receive their invitation via email after they have played their final game.
Underclassmen who officially declare for the 2020 NFL Draft through the NFL office will be considered by late January.
The NFL Scouting Combine does not encourage players to leave school early and there are no guarantees that an underclassman who declares for the NFL Draft will be invited to participate in the NFL Scouting Combine.
Underclassmen who have officially declared should send their email address as outlined above and may call the Combine office beginning Tuesday, January 28, 2020, to check on their status.
If you have questions, contact the Combine office at (317) 687-8100 or (800) 331-9135.
Combine Medical Questions
Always consult your college team athletic trainer and doctor for medical records. Bring copies, notes and anything that would explain and existing conditions.
If I am not selected to attend the NFL Scouting Combine, can I be drafted?
Yes.
Many players who enjoy successful careers in the NFL did not attend the NFL Combine. If you are not selected you can call the combined office directly. Ask if you can get an invitation, tell them you are will to pay for a hotel and all costs associated with travel. State you are prepared mentally and physically. (Prepare a video, email with your measurables, statistics, and brief introduction. You have this in video form and on a sheet of paper in one sheet format.)
Here at Souletics®, we have AI that will tell you what your measurables need to be to get drafted, in which round and additionally we have a database with 30 years of data. Start here – https://www.souletics.me, enter your measurables and see how you stack up.
Access our AI system here – https://www.souletics.me
Combine Player Evaluation Tests
Players are required to participate?
Players are recommended to participate in all tests but players can opt-out. Some only do the 40. It is best to prepare for all tests and do them. This will give a team the most information to evaluate you. If you can show out on all test this shows your ability to compete and is the best way to get an accurate evaluation. Pro days can be used to redo tests that you do not perform or would like to do better.
Here is a list of Combine Tests
The NFL Combine is a week-long event in which prospective NFL Drafts showcase their abilities to scouts, team owners, and coaches in the hopes of being drafted to the top teams in the league. The NFL Combine 2018 is broken down into categories that allow each player to perform the feats that will be required of them in their desired role on the team.
The list below includes the main events at the NFL Combine:
40-yard dash (4.45 and under is solid)
Measures a player’s 40-yard speed.
Bench press (Over 20 Reps is solid)
Draft eligible Player’s ability to lift 225-lbs.
Vertical jump (Over 38 inches is solid)
Measures a player’s ability to leap straight into the air with no step. The NBA has a no-step and one step vertical.
Broad jump ( Over 10’8” is good)
The broad jump is another word for a standing long-jump. This is a good way of measuring a player’s ability to explore, measure hip power and leg explosiveness. As an athlete myself you can clearly see the difference in guys who can run a fast forty but do not have a good broad jump. They often have speed but are not necessarily explosive.
20-yard shuttle (Under 4.15 is good)
Change of direction test. run 5 yards to the left, 10 yards back to the right, 5 yards back to the center.
3 cone drill (under 6.90 is good)
The three-cone drill is designed to measure game simulated agility. players run between three points while bending and sprinting around the field.
60-yard shuttle
This practice is similar to the 20-yard shuttle but requires players to exert more effort for a longer amount of time to get up and down the field. The drill requires players to run up to a 20-yard line, touch it, turn around, and run back to the starting line. Then, they repeat the process by running to the 40-yard and 60-yard lines as well. Once the 60-yard line is touched, the player sprints back to the starting line.
Combine Interviews
Teams are allowed a certain amount of interview time with players.
Drug screen
Before any NFL hopeful can play in NFL they have to pass a drug screening
The Cybex test
Joint movement test. Players go through several joint ranges of the test to evaluate joint mobility and health.
Wonderlic test
The Wonderlic test is given to all athletes at the NFL combine. The Wonderlic is used by the NFL so you can study for this test to prepare for the combine Wonderlic test.
Other resources:
NFL Combine Results
NFL Combine FAQ
Most prestigious talent evaluation event for NAtional Football League draft-eligible players
Who goes to the NFL combine?
Draft-eligible players who have been selected by the National and BLESTO scouting services.
How many players invited to NFL combine?
Usually, there are 330 players invited to the NFL Combine
Where is NFL Combine 2019?
The National Football Scouting Combine since 1987 is in Indianapolis Indiana. Before then it was in Tampa, New Orleans in (1984, 1986), and Arizona in (1985).
How much does the average NFL player bench press?
The NFL Combine requires players to do 225 pounds as many times as possible.
Can Anyone tryout for the NFL combine?
Yes anyone can tryout. There are several regional combines that athletes can participate in. Another method is finding out when a college pro day is going on at your local college and getting permission to work out for pro scouts when scouts visit that college.
Who ran the fastest 40 yard dash in NFL combine history?
John Ross who was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals ran a 4.22 at the combine.
Who is the strongest player in the NFL?
Currently, Adrian Peterson is regarded as pound for pound the strongest player in the league. JJ Watt and Saquon Barkley are a close second.
How do you train for the NFL combine?
YOu train for the events that will be tested: 1. 40-yard dash 2. Vertical Jump 3. Broad Jump 4. 225 Max repetitions 5. 20-yard shuttle 6. Three-Cone Drill 7. Position-Specific Drills 8. Wonderlic Test (Mental Evaluation Test) 9. Medical Tests