As the NFL season comes to a close, teams and fans start to look forward to the NFL Draft, and for the Las Vegas Raiders and the rest of the league, things will be a bit different this year without the NFL scouting combine.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweeted out a memo was put out that the annual NFL scouting combine, held at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana will not be taking place this year. The main ways for teams to scout this year will have come from individuals pro days, as the NFL will work together with the GMs and scouts of teams to make sure that video is available from each college pro day.
All meetings between players and coaches will be held and scheduled online, and any medical information will be distributed online, as well. Even more than last year, the entire scouting process will be done virtually leading up to the 2021 NFL draft.
Raiders scouting staff will have their work cut out for them
With all of this being said, NFL scouts will now have their work cut out for them even more, as there will not be one singular event to go and watch the top talent in the country. They will have to do all of their recruiting through watching videos, meaning they will not get to see any of these players in person, which is a huge part of the process.
The NFL Draft is set to take place from April 29th to May 1st, and it is unknown if the event will be postponed due to these changes, or held virtually once again. This year’s draft could be even more different from years past, as there will be fewer rumors spread from the combine, and possibly fewer GMs sharing information like usual in Indianapolis.
The NFL, and country as a whole, should be accustomed to living in a virtual world by now due to Covid, although I am sure most coaches and GMs, especially Coach Gruden and Mayock, are not happy with the decision and would love nothing more than to be able to go through the scouting process at the combine.