A football combine is a standardized tryout where players perform physical drills, complete medical exams, and interview with coaches and scouts, all in one centralized event. The most well-known version is the NFL Scouting Combine, held annually in Indianapolis, where roughly 300 of the top college football players showcase their athleticism ahead of the NFL Draft. But combines also exist at the high school and college levels, following a similar format on a smaller scale.
How the NFL Combine Works
The NFL Scouting Combine takes place each year at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis over four days (the 2026 event runs February 26 through March 1). A committee of professional NFL talent evaluators selects which draft-eligible prospects receive invitations, typically around 300 to 340 players per year. Between 2018 and 2020, roughly 1,009 players were invited across those three cycles.
Getting an invitation isn’t guaranteed, and it comes with conditions. Prospects who have felony or misdemeanor convictions involving violence, weapons, domestic violence, or sexual offenses are barred from participating. The NFL can also deny entry to anyone dismissed by their university or the NCAA.
Once there, players cycle through physical testing, medical evaluations, and formal interviews with team coaching staffs over the course of several days. Each position group (quarterbacks, wide receivers, defensive linemen, etc.) typically performs drills on a designated day, so scouts can compare players at the same position side by side.
The Six Core Drills
Every combine, whether NFL, college, or high school, centers on roughly the same six physical tests. Each one measures a different aspect of athleticism:
- 40-yard dash: A straight-line sprint that measures top-end speed and acceleration. It’s the most famous combine drill and carries an almost mythical reputation among fans and scouts alike. For certain positions like wide receiver and cornerback, it matters enormously. The all-time NFL Combine record is 4.21 seconds, set by Texas wide receiver Xavier Worthy in 2024.
- Bench press: Players rep out 225 pounds as many times as possible (185 pounds at the high school level). It tests upper-body strength and endurance. Oregon State defensive tackle Stephen Paea holds the NFL record with 49 reps, set in 2011. That said, many scouts consider this the least useful drill. One NFL scout put it bluntly: “If we forgot to do this drill at the Combine, no one would miss it.”
- Vertical jump: A standing jump measuring how high a player can reach. Scouts treat it as a threshold test, meaning there’s a minimum they want to see for each position, but jumping far above that minimum doesn’t necessarily change a player’s evaluation. The record is 46 inches, set by safety Gerald Sensabaugh in 2005.
- Broad jump: A standing long jump from a two-footed takeoff. It measures lower-body explosiveness in a horizontal plane. Some scouts view it as less informative than the vertical jump.
- Three-cone drill: Players sprint in an L-shaped pattern around three cones set five yards apart, testing agility and the ability to change direction at speed. Multiple NFL scouts have called it the single most important drill at the Combine because it reveals how fluidly an athlete can redirect their body.
- 20-yard shuttle (5-10-5): Players start in a three-point stance, sprint five yards to one side, reverse direction for 10 yards, then reverse again for the final five. It measures lateral quickness and hip flexibility. As one scout noted, “Stiff athletes can’t escape the shuttles with good times,” making it a reliable filter for movement quality.
Beyond the Drills: Interviews and Medical Exams
Physical testing is only part of the evaluation. NFL teams also conduct formal sit-down interviews with prospects. Each club gets 45 formal interviews lasting 18 minutes apiece, for a total of 810 minutes of face time across the event. Teams use these sessions to assess a player’s football knowledge, personality, maturity, and how they handle pressure. Coaches might quiz a quarterback on reading defensive formations or ask a prospect to walk through how they’d respond to specific game situations.
Prospects also undergo extensive medical screening. Team physicians examine players for existing injuries, joint stability, and any conditions that might affect their durability at the professional level. A player with a surgically repaired knee, for example, will have that joint thoroughly evaluated by medical staffs from all 32 teams. These exams sometimes have a bigger impact on draft position than any 40 time, because a red flag on a medical report can cause a player to slide significantly.
Cognitive and psychological assessments round out the process. Historically, the Wonderlic test was used to measure processing speed and problem-solving, though the league has shifted to newer tools in recent years. These results give teams a window into how quickly a prospect can absorb a playbook and make decisions under pressure.
How Much Combine Results Actually Matter
The honest answer: less than you might think for most positions, but more than zero.
A study analyzing over 1,000 combine participants from 2018 to 2020 found that combine performance alone is not a strong predictor of where a player gets drafted. Faster 40 times, higher vertical jumps, more bench press reps, and longer broad jumps all correlated with better draft position, but the statistical relationship was modest. The one exception was wide receiver, where physical measurables like vertical jump showed a meaningful connection to draft slot (a correlation of -.286, meaning higher jumps tracked with earlier picks).
Where the combine does seem to make a real difference is in separating players who get drafted from those who don’t. For borderline prospects, a standout 40 time or impressive showing in the three-cone drill can be the difference between hearing your name called on draft day and going undrafted. For players already projected as first-round picks based on their college film, the combine mostly confirms what scouts already believe rather than reshaping their evaluation.
NFL teams have increasingly said they prioritize game tape over combine numbers. Sprint speed on a clean track in shorts doesn’t always translate to football speed in pads while reading a play. Still, a historically fast 40 or a dominant showing in the agility drills generates buzz that’s hard to ignore, and certain outlier performances have pushed players up draft boards by a full round or more.
High School and College Combines
The NFL version gets all the attention, but combines happen at every level of football. High school combines follow the same basic template: 40-yard dash, 5-10-5 shuttle, bench press, vertical jump, broad jump, and three-cone drill. The main difference is the bench press weight drops to 185 pounds instead of 225.
These events serve a similar purpose on a smaller scale. High school players use regional combines to get noticed by college recruiters, especially athletes from smaller programs who don’t get the same exposure as players at powerhouse schools. College-level combines and pro days (held at individual universities) function as supplements to the NFL Combine, giving players who weren’t invited to Indianapolis a chance to post official numbers in front of scouts.
At every level, the core idea is the same: put athletes through identical tests under controlled conditions so evaluators can compare them on a level playing field, then layer in interviews and medical checks to build a complete picture of the prospect.