The NFL’s annual Scouting Combine won’t make or break a player’s pro career. It can, conversely, drastically affect his draft stock.
The week-long string of interviews, measurements and workouts is an opportunity for players to answer questions about their talent and character. But mostly it’s a chance for scouts and NFL decision makers to salivate over 40-yard dash times and analyze drills with an overzealous capacity once reserved for TiVo’ed episodes of Lost in its heyday.
For some players, the combine is where cracks in their games widen. Others will use the workouts to prove they’re capable of shining on Sundays. The 15 players featured below all had questions to answer about their talent and each shined en route to significant bumps up expert rankings and mock drafts as the 2023 NFL Draft begins to come into focus.
Let’s talk about the guys who helped themselves the most — in no particular order but starting with the week’s unquestioned biggest winner.