NFL Combine 2022: The Value of Seeing Players in Person

Falcons GM Terry Fontenot discusses this year’s return to Indianapolis. Plus, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah on analytics and catching up with Tom Moore.

INDIANAPOLIS – One of the myriad events that got scrapped due to the COVID-19 pandemic was the 2021 NFL combine, but it’s back in its usual form (although perhaps for the last time in Indianapolis). And as teams return to a draft process that’s close to business as usual, the question remains: What is the value of the combine as the process continues to evolve?

“Different people see the combine in different ways, but this is a very important exposure for us,” Falcons GM Terry Fontenot said. “Any touch point with the players we can have is critical. The interviews—the formals, the informals—seeing them work out and compete, just being here with all our peers and agents. If you handle this week the right way it can be very productive.”

Falcons GM Terry Fontenot speaking at the combine podium :: Trevor Ruszkowski/USA TODAY Sports

The combine falls right in the part of the offseason calendar when assistant coaches truly begin to dive into prospect evaluations, but not every team has its full coaching staff here. Notably, the Super Bowl champion Rams (who don’t pick until the third round) are among the few that don’t have a large complement of people in Indy beyond medical personnel. Fontenot said the most important thing to him is about assessing a player’s makeup, and you can’t do that purely through the combine but it’s obviously a big part of things.

The biggest thing that teams need to assess, however, is how to blend the processes of the last two draft cycles with this year’s. One thing that’s here to stay for the Falcons is maximizing time via Zoom.

“I guess I can say we’re still gonna utilize—as much as the league allows us to do—virtual meetings,” Fontenot said. “You can be really efficient still having virtual meetings and virtual interviews as long as we're allowed to do that. So we’ll utilize that. We did learn some things last year, but being in person is important as well.”

Adofo-Mensah is using analytics as just one tool, just the way it should be

There’s a notion surrounding so-called analytics people, like new Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, that he and others like him simply look at the spreadsheets and do what they say—whether it’s going for it on fourth down or picking one player over another during the draft. That has never been and will never be true. At the end of the day, NFL decision makers are attempting to juggle countless factors to try to make the best calls for their orgs, but Adofo-Mensah had an interesting answer about how he uses data.

“Data is really important, but I think people sometimes lose the sense of [being] open-minded about what data is. Data is observations. Data is noticing how I walk in the room. Data is also a number. We use all those things at our disposal.… But with everything, it’s just one information source, then you have your other information sources and you combine them. At the end of the day, when these things don’t agree, that’s the call to process. Let’s get in a room and figure out this because great decisions are made when you learn.”

Catching up with Tom Moore

Of course the 83-year-old is here this week, just like he has been literally every year the event has been hosted. The veteran consultant for the Buccaneers has coached in the league for four decades, winning four Super Bowl titles along the way. But a quick conversation quickly veered to his alma mater, Iowa, which he played for from 1958 to ’61 and where he got his start in coaching. Moore “loves [coach Kirk] Ferentz’s ability to turn three stars into pros.”

As evidence, look no further than center Tyler Linderbaum. In a draft that does not have a clear star at quarterback, or even a slam dunk player to go No. 1, Linderbaum stands out. He is considered by many, along with Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton, as the best player at his position.

Ferentz has an incredible history of developing offensive linemen; Linderbaum is just next in line, much to Moore’s pleasure. Even more so, one could assume, if the newly offensive-line-needy Bucs were to select him, although there’s little chance a prospect that good will still be there at the 27th pick.