*Walt taking 2014 and 2018 |
Charlie Campbell, Senior Draft Analyst |
How Teams View Combine Moving
Updated Aug. 10, 2021By Charlie Campbell. Follow Charlie on Twitter @draftcampbell.
WalterFootball.com reported a few ago, here in the Hot Press, how the NFL league office is aiming to replace the Senior Bowl with the East-West Shrine as the top pre-draft all-star game. When the NFL announced its partnership with the East-West Shrine and their conflicting schedule with the Senior Bowl, the league also said it would explore moving the NFL Scouting Combine out of Indianapolis. In speaking to some team sources, they say that scouts, behind the scenes, believe the Combine is definitely going to be rotating sites in the years to come.
“The combine moving out of Indy is a done deal,” said a long-tenured scout from a prolific NFL family. “They’re going to move it around like they do with the draft or Super Bowl.”
While the NFL Draft has moved to around in Northern cities like Chicago, Cleveland and Philadelphia, team sources believe the combine will be more like the Super Bowl, with restrictions on the type of venue it can be hosted in.
“I think [the league] will have to keep it inside in a dome, so that rules a lot of cities out,” said the scout. “Agents won’t want quarterbacks throwing outside where wind could impact their players. You could have rain, wet turf, etc. to consider, so that pretty much rules out outdoor stadiums. How could you adjust all the workouts and travel if there is a rain-out? Even warmer cities won’t work; I’ve been to pro days in Florida and Arizona with wind and rain.”
So scouts believe that the combine will rotate among the dome teams, at least in the beginning. They say the rumors are that Dallas is going to get the first combine outside of Indianapolis. Other options for dome stadiums include Las Vegas, New Orleans, Atlanta, Arizona, Houston, Minnesota, Detroit and Los Angeles.
“I think Vegas, Atlanta, Arizona, Houston, and L.A. will be the top candidates to get combines after Dallas,” said the scout. “Beyond that, maybe the league gets creative and uses some domes like Milwaukee to have it hosted by Green Bay in a sense. Perhaps Tropicana Field to have it in Tampa Bay. I don’t know what they have planned, but everybody is saying that it’s a done deal that the combine is leaving Indy after next year, and most believe that Dallas will get it first.”
