Price adjusted, the NFL Scouting Combine is the best event on the NFL calendar.

Sure, the Super Bowl carries the prestige. As the final act of a 22-week saga, I won’t begrudge anyone watching their team hoist the Lombardi as the apex of the year. But, even as the Big Game has become a spectacle, from the pregame shows, to the commercials, to the halftime show—salute to Bad Bunny—a trip to Indianapolis in February has its own allure outside of watching prospects.

Few other places offer the opportunity of walking into a steakhouse and seeing a colleague, your boss (yep, ran into Matthew Berry last year), a player or a coach. And that’s all before you head out to sample the nightlife. And while you’re out, you’ll get caught up in conversations and catch a few pieces of news, like I did.

Multiple QBs are on the move, but it’ll be a while

No matter where I went, the topic of the QB market was a thread everybody was pulling. Here’s how the conversation typically went.

News and Notes From the NFL Scouting Combine

I can’t wait to see where Malik Willis goes.

Without a doubt, no QB has done more to increase their value than the Packers’ QB2. Just going back and rewatching some of his throws (and not just the runs!), the lofty projections for his next contract don’t feel far-fetched.

However, and I had to double-check this, Malik Willis threw the ball only 35 times in 2025. Ian’s two-minute clip highlights over a third of Willis’ attempts for the entire season. For reference, Joe Flacco (41.0), Jacoby Brissett (40.3), Davis Mills (38.7) and Mac Jones (36.1) were also backups and averaged more attempts per game! Of course, Willis has The Konami Code working in his favor, but the lack of starts (outside of his time in Tennessee) makes him hard to gauge.

Well, yeah, but what about Kyler Murray?

Invariably, the Cardinals’ QB comes up after Willis, since both can put passing and rushing skill sets on their resumes. But Kyler Murray has the last seat on the QB free agent hype train.

The seventh-year vet had bottom-12 marks in EPA per dropback and passing success rate before Brissett took over. And no, I’m not here to proclaim Brissett as Arizona’s savior. The Cardinals won one game with him as a starter. But it’s interesting that the team’s yards per drive, total yards per game and points per game slid up after the QB switch. Regardless, Murray’s a two-time Pro Bowler with at least a playoff appearance under his belt. If I’m No. 1, I’d use the Loki “I consider experience, experience” line of logic to finesse my way into a better situation.

Editor's Note: After the publishing of this article, it was announced that on the first day of the new league year (March 11) the Arizona Cardinals plan to release Murray, making him a highly sought-after free agent for all the QB-needy teams in the NFL. Since the Cardinals will be on the hook for the guaranteed portion of his contract, teams will just need to pay Murray at the veteran's minimum. That will make Murray very popular for several teams, and likely will not be a on the market for very long.

I wouldn’t pay for either. You saw how Seattle did it. Give me someone like Mac Jones!

And here’s where the conversation devolves. Because it’s like talking with your buddies from college, the folks in the group chat or the people at work interested in sports. Each person has their own version of the Seahawks’ SB blueprint and can copy/paste it to their team. But I’ll stick with the Vikings as they’re the squad that came up the most often due to the infrastructure already in place.

A Kirk Cousins reunion is already on the table, but Mac Jones and (surprisingly) Geno Smith were on the list of hypotheticals. And I use the derogatory surprise for Smith because, like Murray, he couldn’t have ended ’25 on a worse note. You can’t pin all 17 interceptions on the offensive line. But like the others, past play (good and bad) and cost to acquire will be what keeps any movement happening until we get closer to the draft.

Situation will dictate WR value

Oh, right. There were guys looking to get into the NFL running inside Lucas Oil Stadium. Again, the spectacle of things happening around the combine almost takes away from the reason everyone treks to central Indiana every year. I was about 10 feet away when my friend Drew chased down Rich Eisen for a picture as he left Prime 47. Few other occasions offer this type of experience. Anyway, two points to start the workout discussion.

If you haven’t witnessed the athletic testing in person, it’s like going to church. Everyone’s welcome, but you’ll notice that there’s a sense of reverence once you’re in your seat. There’s little noise (unless Carson Beck is throwing, apparently) until the occasional clap or cheer. The other notable piece was how few prospects were going through drills as compared to years past. Plus, once Friday came, and the fantasy-relevant positions became the focus, there wasn’t much buzz even after the NFL hopefuls completed the more popular drills.

Dwain already laid out where 40 times should rank in our process when trying to predict future production, assuming draft capital. Spoiler alert: it’s not the end-all, be-all. In any case, I cross-referenced the Top 10 receivers from Adam Schefter’s tweet with the production rating used by our Rookie Super Model. Two had top-10 scores across both metrics (Bryce Lance and Chris Brazzell). Only two others were in the Top 20 (De’Zhaun Stribling and Zachariah Branch).

It’s why you’ll hear the phrase “checks a lot of boxes” versus the “is a generational prospect” talk we’ve heard in years past. As a result, I’ll be going back through our scouting reports and prospect profiles to help me match traits and collegiate usage to situation once we start to hear more about where these guys might fall in the draft. But I only need to see the landing spot for the TEs in this class.

Kenyon Sadiq was the headliner, but Eli Stowers, Sam Roush, and John Michael Gyllenborg all made names for themselves out on the turf. And I know, we’ve looked at TE as a position that either takes time to learn or you’re a receiver from Day 1. However, the league is shifting.

• Average Rate of Plays Using 11 Personnel: 63.7% (2023), 61.9% (2024), 57.2% (2025)
• Percent of Targets to TEs: 21.3%, 22.4%, 23.8%

The Rams’ 13-personnel wave wasn’t the only spike in TEs on the field last season. Think of how annoying it was to hope Dalton Kincaid would get a target only to see Dawson Knox fall into the end zone. Or Austin Hooper instead of Hunter Henry. I’ve been quick to dismiss athletic TEs during the draft process because I’ve been burned on their limited usage once they get drafted (I’ve got Albert Okwuegbunam on a dynasty roster somewhere). However, it’s not just the players telling us they can play at the next level this time. The league is hinting at it, too.

Free Agency and Team Building

I focused on QBs earlier because they’re the MVPs, but the other (in my opinion) under-discussed aspect of the combine is your proximity to coaches and GMs. I shook hands with HC Sean Payton on Thursday night as he walked into Prime 47. At that point in the day, he wasn’t there to answer questions, but as I’ve mentioned, that’s the benefit of hitting up a local establishment in Indianapolis that week. Speaking of Indy…

The Alec Pierce part I caught toward the backend of the week, and it jibes with what the boss gleamed from talking with Pierce himself and others in town. Although it’s somewhat ironic that in a draft class full of guys with specific skill sets, the belle of the free-agency ball falls into the same bucket. Pierce’s 38.1% explosive play rate should be something any offense would want to add in this era of defense. If GM Duke Tobin wants to continue to be all in like he said last Tuesday, I’ve got an idea for him to prove it. I’ll take Dalton Risner re-signing instead, I guess.

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