Scouting Combine
Every year, every potential rookie attends the annual Scouting Combine. This is a set of eight skill tests. The results of a player's rookie Combine are available on his player card. If you mouse over the test, you can see how the player rates in each drill compared to others at his position (the color of the text makes the same indication).
Along with scouted player ratings and statistics, combine numbers are a primary tool for evaluating players.
Combine results correlate to the player ratings. This is not an exact relationship, but it is a strong one. When comparing players to each other using Combine numbers, the comparisons are much more valid within a position group. Note that some skills are reflected in more than one test.
The accuracy of the combine is partially determined by the Combine Accuracy setting chosen when beginning a new universe.
The following tests are given to players in Front Office Football:
The 40-Yard Dash:
- All Players: their speed.
- Quarterbacks: their desire and ability to run the ball.
- Running Backs: their ability to return punts and kickoffs.
- Wide Receivers: their ability to return punts and kickoffs.
- Defensive Front: their zone defense.
- Defensive Backs: their zone defense and their ability to return punts and kickoffs.
10-Yard Split in the 40-Yard Dash:
- Quarterbacks: their ability to sense the rush and their desire and ability to run the ball.
- Running Backs: their strength and their speed.
- Tight Ends: their strength, their route running and their blocking strength.
- Wide Receivers: their strength, their route running and their speed.
- Offensive Linemen: their blocking strength.
- Punters: their punt distance.
- Kickers: their kickoff hang time and their field goal accuracy.
- Defensive Front: their man-to-man defense, their zone defense and their physical pass defense.
- Defensive Backs: their man-to-man defense and their zone defense.
The Solecismic Intelligence Test:
- All Players: relates to their intelligence.
- Quarterbacks: their decision-making and their ability to read the defense.
- Backs: their hole recognition and their route-running ability.
- Receivers: their route-running ability.
- Offensive Linemen: their scheme acquisition.
- Defensive Players: their ability to diagnose the offense.
- Long Snappers: their long-snapping ability.
The Bench Press:
- All Players: relates to their endurance.
- Quarterbacks: their arm strength.
- Backs: their ability to defeat jammers.
- Tight Ends: their ability to defeat jammers.
- Defensive Players: their physical pass defense.
The Vertical Leap:
- Quarterbacks: their accuracy and their skills in the two-minute offense.
- Running Backs: their ability to catch the ball in traffic and their hands.
- Fullbacks: their ability to catch the ball in traffic, their hands and their run blocking technique.
- Receivers: their ability to catch the ball in traffic and their hands.
- Offensive Linemen: their run blocking technique and their pass blocking technique.
- Defensive Players: their run defense and their pass rush technique.
The Broad Jump:
- Quarterbacks: their footwork and their timing.
- Running Backs: their route-running ability and their blitz pickup.
- Fullbacks: their route-running ability, their blitz pickup and their run blocking technique.
- Tight Ends: their route-running, their blitz pickup, their run blocking technique and their blocking strength.
- Wide Receivers: their route-running ability.
- Offensive Linemen: their run blocking technique and their blocking strength.
- Punters: their punt distance.
- Kickers: their field-goal distance.
- Defensive Players: their pass rush strength and their physical pass defense.
The Shuttle Drill:
- Quarterbacks: their throw quality and their secure ball handling.
- Running Backs: their hole recognition and their secure ball handling.
- Fullbacks: their hole recognition, their secure ball handling and their pass blocking technique.
- Tight Ends: their secure ball handling, their pass blocking technique and their blocking strength.
- Wide Receivers: their hands and their secure ball handling.
- Offensive Linemen - their pass blocking technique and their blocking strength.
- Punters: their directional punting and their punt hang time.
- Kickers: their field-goal accuracy and their kickoff hang time.
- Defensive Players: their run defense and their pass rush technique.
The Three-Cone Drill:
- Quarterbacks: their passing touch and their ability to sense the rush.
- Running Backs: their elusiveness and their ability to adjust to a thrown ball.
- Fullbacks: their elusiveness, their ability to adjust to a thrown ball and their pass blocking technique.
- Tight Ends: their ability to adjust to a thrown ball and their pass blocking technique.
- Wide Receivers: their elusiveness and their ability to adjust to a thrown ball.
- Offensive Linemen: their run blocking technique and their pass blocking technique.
- Punters: their directional punting and their punt hang time.
- Kickers: their field-goal accuracy and their kickoff hang time.
- Defensive Players: their run defense and their pass intercepting ability.
Not all tests are meaningful for every position.
In addition to the drills, players are assessed for their volatility, which indicates how likely they are to experience a sudden boom or bust during training camp. They are assessed a percentage that indicates how developed the scouts think they are (this is updated every year). And they are also given a medical evaluation, which you can see on the Medical/Transactions section of the player card, indicating the risk of certain type of injury.