The 2026 NFL Scouting Combine is underway at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, with 319 prospects competing for the attention of every general manager, coach, and scout in professional football ahead of the April 23 draft in Pittsburgh. Most casual coverage will zoom in on 40-yard dash splits. That’s the wrong focal point.
How Does the NFL Combine Work?
The combine runs Feb. 26 through March 1, with position groups cycling through on-field drills on designated days. Defensive linemen, linebackers, and special teams went first Thursday; defensive backs and tight ends follow Friday; quarterbacks, wide receivers, and running backs go Saturday; offensive linemen close things out Sunday. Live coverage runs on NFL Network and streams on NFL+.
But the televised workouts are only one piece of a much bigger evaluation. Every prospect also undergoes medical examinations, psychological testing, and formal interviews with NFL front-office personnel.
Here are the drills that every player participates in:
- 40-yard dash
- Bench press
- Vertical jump
- Broad jump
- Three-cone drill
- 20-yard shuttle
- 60-yard shuttle
The medicals deserve more attention than they get. A medical advisory committee reviews each prospect’s full injury history before anyone steps foot in Indianapolis, then coordinates additional studies based on specific concerns.
A player with a knee history might be flagged for an extra MRI. What gets discovered in those exam rooms rarely becomes public. Maurice Hurst’s heart condition surfacing during combine medicals in 2018 is one of the rare exceptions. Most of that information stays between teams and shapes draft boards quietly, without a single camera present.
The interviews carry weight, too. Each team gets an 18-minute window with prospects they’re targeting. For a small-school standout or a prospect carrying off-field concerns, those conversations can be the first real impression they make on a decision-maker.
Position-specific drills round out the workout, giving evaluators a look at technique and football instincts, not just raw athleticism. Scouts use all of it to cross-reference what they’ve already graded on tape.
When Did the NFL Combine Start?
Former Dallas Cowboys president and general manager Tex Schramm proposed a centralized player evaluation process to the NFL competition committee, arguing that teams shouldn’t have to schedule individual workouts with every prospect.
National Football Scouting Inc. acted on that idea and held the first National Invitational Camp in Tampa, Florida, in 1982. That inaugural camp drew 163 players and served 16 member clubs, with the primary goal of collecting medical information.
Two competing camps run by BLESTO and Quadra Scouting operated simultaneously for teams outside the NFS umbrella, creating a fragmented system that lasted until 1985, when all 28 NFL teams agreed to merge into one centralized event. Cost-sharing was the practical motivation.
The unified camp moved to Arizona in 1985, returned to New Orleans in 1986, and landed in Indianapolis in 1987. The event picked up the “NFL Scouting Combine” name following that merger.
The combine wasn’t televised until 2004, when the newly launched NFL Network aired six one-hour recap installments covering that year’s event. For more than two decades, the whole operation ran entirely behind closed doors. That fact alone underscores what the combine actually is: a business process first, entertainment product second.
Where Is the NFL Combine Held?
The combine has called Indianapolis home since 1987, with one exception: the 2021 event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with team interviews held virtually and physical testing moved to individual pro days.
Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Indianapolis Colts, hosts the on-field drills. The stadium was specifically designed with combine infrastructure in mind, including direct fiber-optic connections to IU Health to facilitate real-time medical evaluations for hundreds of prospects without anyone leaving downtown Indy.
That kind of purpose-built setup is part of why Indianapolis has held onto the event through the NFL’s bidding process, which opened combine hosting rights for 2023 through 2028. Indianapolis won the bid and is under contract to host through this year’s event.
The 2026 NFL Draft follows on April 23 in Pittsburgh, at Acrisure Stadium and Point State Park. The Las Vegas Raiders hold the No. 1 overall pick. What happens in Indianapolis this week, in the exam rooms and interview suites as much as on the turf, will determine how that board takes shape.
