The NFL combine has turned into quite the event with weeklong drills, workouts, and coverage. It’s a great chance for all 32 teams to get a firsthand look at some of the players in the upcoming draft class.
It’s also an opportunity for those teams’ scouts to get a read on what the other 31 teams – particularly the teams around them in the draft order – might be planning to do.
Former NFL scout Bryan Broaddus of the Audacy Original Podcast “Love of the Star” explained why it’s important for scouts to keep an eye on other teams at the combine and other workouts.
“I would always see what teams sent their position coach to go conduct a workout,” Broaddus said (2:28 in player above). “For example, if the 49ers were sending their linebacker coach to go work guys out, I would always make notes of that. I always made notes. If defensive line coaches were there to work out specific guys, always made a note of that.”
It makes sense. While a team may think they will be able to draft a certain player with their pick, a team a few slots ahead of them could have that same player high on their board. Who that team sends to that player’s workout is key.
“I think you really have to evaluate the evaluators at the workout,” Broaddus continued. “Who has sent the most guys here to see these players? I think that can tell you a lot. That used to help me in pro personnel when I would have to tell Jerry or whoever the head coach was, ‘Hey, listen, there’s a chance this team is going to take this player because they were at this workout. They had their coaches at this workout for this guy.’”
While it’s possible that teams send personnel to workouts even though they may not have a keen interest in the player, an organization using its staff’s time to watch a player usually means something.
“To me, workouts, using resources to evaluate players. All of those things can help you with that.”
Time is money, so knowing which teams are sending coaches to watch a player at the combine, pro days, or other workouts is valuable information. It’s the game inside the game for NFL scouts.
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