It’s the season for pre-draft visits and private workouts for NFL teams. But what exactly goes on in those prospect visits or private workouts with draft-eligible players?
First, we’ll start with the top-30 visit. Every team is allotted 30 prospects visits at team facilities with draft prospects each year. Teams can use these on whichever draft-eligible players they want, be it high-value targets who could be selected in the first round or players who might not be drafted at all.
While players are on top-30 visits they’ll have a chance to meet with coaching staff members, front office executives and tour the team facilities. Teams will often go over a player’s game film with them in order to try and get a better understanding of their football knowledge and how they study the game. They’ll also just generally spend time with them to get to know the person behind the player and get an idea of how they’d fit in team culture and within the community.
On some occasions, players will meet with the medical and training staff for an evaluation if they had an injury or medical condition in college. This was key for the team eventually drafting a player like Trey Smith, who dealt with a blood-clotting issue in college.
Private workouts are distinct and separate from top-30 visits. These are when scouts or coaches schedule an on-field workout with a player, usually at a player’s school or a pre-determined location. Under no circumstances are they held at a team facility, though. Coaches and scouts can put prospects through pro-day timing events or have them participate in various football exercises and drills, simulating what might take place in practice or on gameday.
Really, both private workouts and top-30 visits are just another way for teams to gather more information on prospects. They don’t necessarily denote that a team is “high” on a player. Sometimes top-30 visits happen with a complete absence of draft interest, but instead to create the illusion of interest in the eyes of other teams. The NFL can be deceptive like that.
The Kansas City Chiefs have already scheduled or completed several visits with a number of prospects. Below you’ll find a list of those prospects, which we’ll keep up to date leading up to the draft: