Relevance of NFL Combine may be in decline as Colbert attends his last with Steelers
Kevin Colbert is on his way out as the general manager of the Pittsburgh Steelers. That was announced long before the 2022 NFL Scouting Combine kicked off. While the Steelers continue interviewing candidates to take his position, the show will go on. While it was made clear that Colbert would remain with the Steelers organization through the 2022 NFL Draft, much of the work of scouting potential additions to the team has been long underway. Meanwhile, the talk of boycotts of the Combine this year, by players and their representatives, has placed a new spotlight on the process of player evaluation and may indicate that participation may be on the decline as more relevance is placed on collegiate and independent regional pro days.
The National Football League has placed an emphasis on draft prospects in what they considered to be the largest organized evaluation event across the country for 40 years. Collegiate players have attended with the hopes that showcasing their strengths, athleticism, speed, and personalities in interviews would land them a spot on a pro roster.
Kevin Colbert’s final scouting combine, though, comes amidst calls for even more change in how players are assessed. Many of the calls for change have stemmed from inequity viewed among collegiate ranks that not every player that declares for a given NFL draft is even invited to the NFL’s Scouting Combine.
Another debate that has floated to the surface is the fact that no player that attends an NFL-sponsored event, like the combine, is compensated despite the high commercialization of the event. In some circles, the evaluation period leading up to the NFL Draft has been compared, rightly or not, to horse-trading. Players are measured, their health records are scrutinized, and their personalities are critiqued through interviews that often focus on mental health-related questions by non-medical personnel. They’re “put through the paces” via drills and tests to determine strengths and other physical abilities.
“As it has shifted to being made a reality TV show, and been shifted away from its original need, it’s become less and less valuable…” NFL Players Association president J.C. Tretter
Tretter’s opinion that the NFL has turned an event that was meant to focus on young men who wanted to become professional football players and has, instead, become a money-making draw for the league has some validity. The event has become more of a prime-time television draw, despite its availability being limited to certain networks that the public may or may not have access to. Scheduling isn’t always to a player’s benefit. Draft “stock”, another term that is insensitive to some seems to be viewed in an increasingly poor light due to the inference that if a player does not attend the event (which, again, is based on invitation) they may be completely overlooked if they don’t have a perfect performance.
There are players, however, who’ve expressed that a single event, in one location, was more convenient than preparing to be evaluated at different times in order to accommodate scouts.
Regardless of the current views sports society may or may not have towards the NFL’s organized programs, the Pittsburgh Steelers have a long tradition of conducting the majority of their scouting activities over a much longer period of time than one week-long event (like the Combine).
In the past, Colbert was quoted as admitting that he and head coach Mike Tomlin prioritized visits to schools where players they felt would improve the team played, whether or not that player was invited to an official evaluation or the Combine. The ideology has long been that making the most of their visits with limited time has given them an effective way to scout as many players as possible.
With a growing number of pro days being hosted by colleges, agents, and private training facilities, the process Colbert has utilized for quite some time may give the Steelers a leg up in his final NFL Draft with the Steelers. Colbert has long traveled with over ten scouts, by his own admission, all over the country looking at college players while other scouts focus on current NFL players (likely free agents or potential players the team could initiate a trade for). That’s a large, well-established scouting process, and it has often paid major dividends for Pittsburgh’s franchise.
For those who feel the NFL Scouting Combine is the only way to get a great player, it’s worth pointing out that Najee Harris didn’t attend the event. He also had a very limited pro-day evaluation. That speaks to the type of scouting that Colbert, Tomlin, and the Steelers find the most beneficial to fielding a successful team.
Whatever the NFL Combine becomes in the future, it is unlikely to affect the way Colbert and the Steelers prepare for the upcoming 2022 NFL Draft. They understand the needs this team has. Most sports analysts anticipate that the team’s greatest needs are quarterback, offensive line, defensive line, cornerback, receiver, and strong safety. Whether that is what the organization believes remains to be seen.
