It’s the week of the NFL Scouting Combine. An annual event that started without much fanfare some 35 years ago has now turned into a media sensation. Two different major outlets, ESPN and NFL Network, cover the event. It’s the biggest date on the NFL off-season calendar outside of the draft itself. It draws ratings unlike anything before it.
There’s a simple reason for this. We’re interested in the annual dog-and-pony show. We want to see prospects run fast, jump high and catch footballs. We need our gridiron.
This year will be no different. With a wide-open crop of quarterback prospects, interest might be spiked even more. Can Deshaun Watson separate himself from the pack at quarterback? How will Pat Mahomes perform after playing in a college-style offense at Texas Tech? These are two of the biggest stories head into to the combine in Indianapolis this week.
Outside of that, we’re definitely interested in seeing what the most-talented recent crop of pass rushers have to show at the combine. Those names include Tim Williams from Alabama and Stanford product Solomon Thomas. The backdrop here are those who were not invited to the annual event due to off-field issues. What does that mean for their draft prospects?
These are among the top-eight storylines heading into the 2017 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.