Quick Read: The 2026 NFL Combine

Information pulled from: sports.yahoo.com

The NFL (Scouting) Combine is about the biggest event leading to the NFL draft that isn’t the NFL draft itself. So what is the Combine and how does it work?

When: The NFL Combine takes place from February 22 - March 2, 2026.

Where: The NFL Combine takes place in Indianapolis, IN at Lucas Oil Stadium.

What? The NFL Combine is a great opportunity for teams to further their knowledge of NFL Draft prospects. There are multiple stages to the NFL Combine.

Interviews: Each team is given 20 minutes to interview potential prospects to see if they fit what they are looking like. Teams often ask questions of players, and test their ability to review film. They may ask them personal questions to assess their personality, or about off field concerns, and whatever else they are interested in. Reading around the internet the atmosphere appears to be quite variable . Some teams want to make the session as intense as possible, whereas some teams take the opposite approach and want the session to be as laid back as possible.

Athletic Drills: Many athletic drills are performed. QBs get to throw. But what often takes the spotlight are things like the 40 yard dash, assessing raw speed. The 20 yard shuttle, assessing agility. The broad jump which helps to measure the prospect’s ability to burst forward. These are personally my favorite and show the raw athleticism of prospects.

Who: Per Yahoo Sports on the link above, 319 prospects have been invited across all position groups. Who shows up is anyone’s guess, as sometimes prospects coming off of injury may not participate to recover or to prevent aggravation of a previous injury.

While I talk a lot about teams sizing up prospects above, the opposite also occurs. Most NFL draft prospects don’t have a choice: wherever they are drafted they will play. However, as we have seen in limited cases in the past, a player may make it apparent they are not interested in a team based on an interview. They may choose to purposely perform poorly in the interview if they are in, say, the top ten picks in order to avoid less desirable teams. While I could see this backfiring, there are reports of it happening.