One of the pivotal weeks of the NFL offseason is underway.
Normal managers, coaches and scouts for the 32 groups are congregating at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis for the annual NFL Scouting Mix to look at and meet the 329 prospects who have been invited this 12 months.
It’s a chance for under-the-radar school standouts to shine, overrated ones to fizzle, and for entrance places of work to speak themselves into — or out of — prospects two months earlier than the NFL draft.
The mix formally began Monday, however it ramps up Thursday with the primary of 4 days of exercises.
Listed below are the largest storylines:
QB COMPETITION
The variety of quarterback-needy groups towards the highest of this 12 months’s draft significantly exceeds the variety of QBs thought of worthy of a first-round decide.
That’s what makes Saturday’s quarterback exercise so compelling.
Arguably the highest prospect on the place, Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders, doesn’t plan to work out and can as a substitute concentrate on assembly with groups, based on stories.
Whether or not the opposite prime prospect, Miami’s Cam Ward, will work out stays to be seen.
Sanders and Wards are candidates to be drafted first total by the Tennessee Titans or second total by the Cleveland Browns, with the Giants at No. 3, the Las Vegas Raiders at No. 6 and the Jets at No. 7 all lurking.
It’s customary for prime quarterbacks to attend till their professional days to throw, with Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye — the highest three picks in final 12 months’s draft — amongst those that adopted that route.
Nonetheless, Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart, Alabama’s Jalen Milroe and Notre Dame’s Riley Leonard are all anticipated to throw this weekend, based on NFL Community.
None initiatives as a top-10 decide in the mean time, however momentum is constructing round Dart, whose instruments ought to play properly within the mix setting.
Maybe no participant faces a extra essential mix than Milroe, whose capacity as a runner is unquestioned however whose passing stays a piece in progress.
ON THE HUNT
No prospect is extra intriguing than Colorado’s Travis Hunter, who dominated as a cornerback and vast receiver in school.
Hunter, who received the 2024 Heisman Trophy, is attending the mix as a cornerback, however he is likely to be one of the best prospect at each positions.
Groups will definitely discover his dedication to taking part in each within the NFL, and this week ought to begin to supply perception into how the league views Hunter’s future.
It’s unknown whether or not Hunter will work out this week — defensive backs are scheduled for Friday and receivers are set for Saturday — or wait till Colorado’s professional day like Sanders is.
Hunter totaled 20 offensive touchdowns and 7 interceptions in his two seasons at Colorado.
He’s one other candidate to be drafted No. 1 total.
MEASURABLE MAYHEM
Critics of the mix usually discuss with it because the “Underwear Olympics,” dismissing how prospects carry out in exercises as much less necessary than how they did taking part in in pads in actual video games.
However make no mistake: NFL groups put loads of inventory in a prospect’s measurables.
One prospect whose measurables are price monitoring is hyper-productive Penn State go rusher Abdul Carter, whom many evaluators pegged as this 12 months’s prime prospect.
Penn State lists Carter at 6-3, 252 kilos — an identical construct to former Nittany Lions linebacker Micah Parsons. However NFL.com describes Carter’s “average size” as a weak point on its scouting report.
A robust exhibiting may make Carter unattainable to go up.
It’s unclear whether or not Sanders, whom Colorado lists at 6-2 and 215 kilos, will weigh in on the mix.
NEED FOR SPEED
Final 12 months, Texas vast receiver Xavier Worthy elevated himself to a first-round decide when he broke the mix report with a 4.21-second 40-yard sprint.
Worthy then proved, properly, worthy of that choice when he emerged as a direct contributor for the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs.
It is sensible, then, that evaluators will likely be desirous to see who posts the quickest 40-time this 12 months.
No person is predicted to match Worthy’s unprecedented dash, however Georgia vast receiver Arian Smith is believed to be the quickest participant on this 12 months’s draft.
The speedy Smith averaged 17.0 yards per reception on his 48 catches final 12 months.
RISERS AND FALLERS
Worthy is certainly one of innumerable gamers whose inventory rose or fell through the years.
Final 12 months, Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy impressed along with his exact passing on the mix, serving to him rise from a day-two projection to the No. 10 total decide by the Minnesota Vikings.
In 2023, Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson delivered such a blinding show along with his 40.5-inch vertical bounce and 4.43-second 40-yard sprint that the Indianapolis Colts drafted him fourth total.
That very same 12 months, USC vast receiver Addison’s inventory suffered when he weighed in at 173 kilos and ran a 4.49-second 40-yard sprint.
Richardson has struggled by two NFL seasons, whereas Addison — who fell to fourth amongst receivers — has excelled with 20 whole touchdowns for the Minnesota Vikings.
In 2022, Notre Dame security Kyle Hamilton upset with a 4.59-second 40-yard sprint. Regardless of some contemplating him that draft’s finest participant, Hamilton fell to the Baltimore Ravens at No. 14 – and is now a two-time All-Professional by three NFL seasons.
It goes to point out that the mix can put eyes on a deserving prospect, however that placing an excessive amount of emphasis on the occasion can simply as simply backfire.
Subsequent week, analysts will rank this 12 months’s largest risers and fallers, however we in all probability received’t know the true outcomes for a number of extra years.
Initially Revealed: February 24, 2025 at 2:13 PM EST
