NFL to review scouting combine, considering changes

National Football Scouting Inc., the organization that runs the annual scouting combine, will work with NFL executives, scouts, coaches and team medical staffs to do a comprehensive review of the tests used at the combine.

National Football Scouting Inc., the organization that runs the annual scouting combine, will work with NFL executives, scouts, coaches and team medical staffs to do a comprehensive review of the tests used at the combine, reports Tom Pelissero of USA Today.

According to company president Jeff Foster, the process will include checkpoints through the Draft and beyond, and will analyze the physical, physiological and medical tests.

The focus of the review will be on tests that may no longer be relevant to modern evaluation techniques for college players.

Physical tests that have been around for decades, like the 40-yard dash and the bench press, are among the aspects of the combine that have been most highly criticized in recent years. 

“We’re continuing to explore everything in an effort to improve,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said to USA Today. “So, if there are ways to tweak, improve, modify anything we do, we’ll explore that (and that includes) the combine. The mantra is, how can we get better?”

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The review will also look to see that technology being used in the testing is up-to-date. The league has already made some technology advancements in the recent past, employing the use of 3D motion analysis.

The combine will be held at Lucas Oil Field in Indianapolis on Feb. 26–29.