Yes, actual players suited up inside Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium over the past three days, and a few more will do so later today as well. Indeed, the 2025 NFL Combines are taking place, though unless you’re a true pro football fan you might not have known much about it.
For as much as the event is designed for teams to evaluate and interview the potential personnel they will eventually draft next month, in recent years the overall growth of the sport has often elevated it to a tentpole event capable of competing with actual games in other sports for ratings and zeitgeist. But 2025 is a year where the overall draft class has been seen as mediocre and those that may have generated a greater level of attention chose not to participate. Facts that the likes of THE ATHLETIC’s Alex Kirschner and Sam Settleman lamented in THE PULSE newsletter they authored earlier this morning:
The NFL Scouting Combine is a networking event as much as a showcase of prospects. Front offices and media descend on Downtown Indy and treat it like a college campus for a few days, trading intel and building bridges. This rumor mill is always a big deal, but some years, it takes a backseat to herculean feats on the field. Someone sets a 40-yard dash record, or a punter does 25 bench reps. This year’s combine didn’t have a break-the-internet workout…(t)here was no can’t-miss quarterback workout (and t)he top two players on Dane Brugler’s big board sat out drills (Travis Hunter is waiting for his pro day, and Abdul Carter has a foot fracture but will avoid surgery for now).
And others who were looking for something to goose their engagement were struggling for worthwhile storylines. Witness how CBS SPORTS’ Chris Traposso summed up yesterday’s usual showcase event:
The NFL Scouting Combine is over for quarterbacks. Frankly, it was somewhat of a disappointing showing from this year’s collection of passers, especially because Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders elected to not participate at all. We did get throwing sessions from Jalen Milroe, Jaxson Dart, Quinn Ewers and others in what many deem to be in the next tier of quarterbacks after Ward and Sanders.
And even the most intriguing remaining prospect failed to fully deliver on Traposso’s expectations:
I wish…Milroe would’ve run in Indianapolis. He decided against doing so. In the throwing session, the zip on Milroe’s passes was spectacular at times, noticeably better than anyone else in the second group. Some of the out-breaking routes were slightly off target or mistimed yet it was far from a bad showing for a quarterback many believe has accuracy problems.
SPORTS ILLUSTRATED’s James Parks was no more effusive about another glamour position’s results:
Wide receivers took the field at the NFL Combine on Saturday, as college football’s speedsters took the opportunity to run the 40-yard dash and show scouts what they have to offer. Most of the attention heading into the day centered around Isaiah Bond, the former Texas wide receiver who boasted that he would break Xavier Worthy’s all-time NFL Combine speed record. He wasn’t able to. None of the wideouts who ran in Indy were able to even crack the top 10 in the all-time 40-yard dash record(.)
So much as was the case for baseball’s winter meetings, where no pretense of athletic workouts has even been offered up, what made up most of the headlines and clickbait over the past days was breaking contract news and rumors, as the ATHLETIC’s dynamic duo eagerly expounded upon:
(T)his combine was about the QB carousel.
- The Rams opened the door to trading Matthew Stafford, but didn’t. The parties resolved a contract dispute that had kickstarted a week of trade exploration. Our reporters have that backstory.
- Sam Darnold’s free agency was also a big story, but one that leaves Indy without a resolution. And the QB market likely won’t settle until the Vikings and/or Darnold make a move.
- The Giants have kicked the tires on Aaron Rodgers. Best of luck to both of them! New York had been poking around on Stafford, and 41-year-old Rodgers is a potential consolation pick.
- The Steelers are deciding between Justin Fields and Russell Wilson. It is clear the team will give a rose to just one of its QBs. Less clear is which one.
South Carolina’s towering safety Nick Emmanwori wasted little time living up to the hype. The 6-foot-3, 220-pound safety, who ranked No. 1 on The Athletic’s Combine Freaks List, broad jumped 11 feet, 6 inches on Friday to go along with a 43-inch vertical jump — both are the top marks at the NFL Scouting Combine this year. No defensive back as big as Emmanwori has jumped as high at the combine since 2017, when UConn’s Obi Melifonwu jumped 44 inches.