- This year’s NFL Combine will see over 300 of the top college football stars participate
- Staff from all 32 NFL franchises will be present to scout potential draft choices
- The scouting combine is invite only
While the impending Super Bowl LIX may be garnering every NFL fan’s attention over the next couple of weeks, a lot of attention is set to be diverted beyond the February 9 season finale in New Orleans and toward the 2025 NFL Combine.
The scouting combine, also known as the National Invitational Camp (NIC) sees over 300 of the country’s most promising collegiate football prospects descend on Indianapolis for what is essentially a multi-day job interview with representatives from all 32 NFL franchises.
An invite only event, the Combine has been part of the NFL calendar since 1982 and has continued to grow over the last 43 years to become an integral part of every team’s year, where coaches, medical staff and executives run the rule over the potential prodigies that could help lead their franchises to glory for years to come.
When is the 2025 NFL Combine?
This year’s NFL Combine takes place between February 27 – March 2.
Where is the 2025 NFL Combine?
The NFL Combine is held in Indianapolis every year and has been since 1987. It takes place at Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Indianapolis Colts. It was Indianapolis-based National Football Scouting Inc. (NFS) who conducted the first National Invitational Camp in Tampa, Fla in 1982. Back in the early ’80s this invitational saw the top college draft picks all brought to one location for NFS to gain medical information for its 16 member clubs.
What Happens at the NFL Combine?
The Combine is essentially a four day job interview – the “Super Bowl of the player development process”, according to the NFL’s official website – in which over 300 of the top college prospects from across America are invited to Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis to be put through their paces via a series of physical, psychological and medical examinations while also sitting down for interviews with interested teams. All 32 NFL franchises can schedule up to 60 15-minute interviews with players they may hold an interest in drafting.
Teams will already have a good idea of who they want to scout at the Combine before it even happens, as they will have been keeping watchful eyes on the college football prospects throughout the season. The Combine allows for scouts, executives and medical personnel to receive a more up-close-and-personal interaction with the prospects they are interested in.
The NFL Combine is invite only, with individual teams free to evaluate any draft-eligible prospects they wish to independently. The NFL website also states, “draft-eligible prospects will not be permitted to participate in any aspect of the Combine if a background check reveals a conviction of a felony or misdemeanor involving violence or use of a weapon, domestic violence, sexual offense and/or sexual assault. The NFL also reserves the right to deny participation of any prospect dismissed by their university or the NCAA.”
Whatever information is gathered by teams during the Combine will go a long way to forming their decisions for the NFL Draft in April.
