Sam Hartman's hair steals the show (2024)

The NFL Scouting Combine is about far more than 40-yard dashes and the gathering of the top NFL Draft prospects.

While teams used the past week in Indianapolis to enhance their scouting reports, much more goes on behind the scenes as teams prepare for Tuesday’s deadline to use the franchise tag or next week’s start of free agency.

The Athletic’s team of NFL writers spent much of the week in Indy gathering intelligence on how their teams will approach the draft, free agency and everything else relating to building their rosters. Here is one thing we learned about each team’s offseason plans.

11-4 Adonai Mitchell

11-1 Jermaine Burton

11-0 Ryan Flournoy

10-9 Anthony Gould

10-8 Jalen co*ker

10-7 Keon Coleman, Cornelius Johnson, Jalen McMillan

10-6 Xavier Legette

10-4 Troy Franklin, Ladd McConkey, Tulu Griffin

10-2 Bub Means

10-1 Luke McCaffrey

One of the biggest combine snubs this year, imo, was Toronto Argonaut DB Qwan'tez Stiggers:

5113 203

30 1/4 arm

8 7/8 hand

Stiggers, per source, still currently has seven top 30 visits scheduled. Lions are one of those seven.

Jerry Jones made headlines at the Senior Bowl in late January when he said the Cowboys would be “all in” during the 2024 season. Although he was asked several different ways Friday to clarify his definition of “all in,” there wasn’t much more clarity provided.

Can Dallas still be “all in” without a Dak Prescott contract extension finalized this offseason?

“Absolutely,” Jones said. “You just have to adjust where you’re going and how you’re going all in.”

If this was to be Prescott’s final year with the Cowboys, the franchise doesn’t have an obvious succession plan in place. Jones said Friday that Cooper Rush will compete for the backup QB job with Trey Lance, who Dallas traded a fourth-round draft pick for last August. Jones also said Friday that because they are “all in” this season that it’s unlikely that they would draft a quarterback with their first-round pick (24th overall) next month. They need that pick to be a player who makes an immediate impact.

Read more here.

Texas WR Xavier Worthy's size might concern some teams, but the talent is certainly present. He is No. 46 on Dane Brugler's top 100 big board.

The Broncos were never going to be in the mix for a top-tier quarterback in the 2023 NFL Draft. They entered the offseason with no picks in the first or second rounds and had veteran quarterback Russell Wilson — and still have him, for now — on the roster. That didn’t keep coach Sean Payton and the Broncos’ personnel staff from diving in on last year’s class of quarterbacks. Even if there was no chance Denver would be drafting Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud or Anthony Richardson, creating their own opinion of the group served an important purpose.

“We want to look back at our own grades and evaluate how we saw those players,” Payton said.

Deciphering whether a team’s outlook ultimately matched a given quarterback’s performance is a critical step in honing the process of evaluating the sport’s most important position. And that work is especially important now as the Broncos enter a pre-draft process in which the chance of coming out of it with a top quarterback is more real. The Broncos, who hold the No. 12 pick, are out of range right now for a player like USC’s Caleb Williams, North Carolina’s Drake Maye or LSU’s Jayden Daniels. But a move into position to select one of those quarterbacks wouldn’t be unprecedented, even if it would be a seismic one.

Read more here.

The USC star is widely viewed as the most talented quarterback in the class. And by sheer talent alone, it’s not even close for some evaluators. Williams is a creative passer who can effectively operate within the play design or off schedule, and he’s viewed as a high-quality person and leader.

Williams didn’t post a great statistical final season at USC, but that’s been largely dismissed by NFL teams. The consensus is that he was constantly under pressure behind a bad offensive line and was forced to press too much because the Trojans’ defense offered little resistance to opponents. In a way, one evaluator said, that chaotic season was a positive because it prepared him for any adversity he’ll face as a rookie — although the Chicago Bears’ (owners of the No. 1 pick and his presumed landing spot) late-season improvements have rival teams more impressed with the direction of the organization than a year ago.

Teams have questioned whether he’s being pulled in too many directions by those around him who don’t have experience in the draft process along with whether that could become an annoyance in the NFL. But it’s believed Williams has too much dedication to the game and becoming a great player to veer off course. Another unknown element that’s been broached is how Williams will adjust to a pro style offense, but that’s the case for most prospects.

Williams is expected to be the first pick because he’s got franchise-altering ability. As a couple of high-ranking executives put it, “Don’t overthink it. He’s the best player in the draft.”

How do executives and coaches view other top QBs in this draft? Read more here.

If the Giants had a top-three pick, there would be more clarity. But their late-season surge led by undrafted quarterback Tommy DeVito has them at No. 6. They could love Caleb Williams, Drake Maye and Jayden Daniels, but if the teams with the top three picks also love those quarterbacks, the Giants won’t have the opportunity to land one of them.

Giants general manager Joe Schoen has carefully answered questions about the team’s quarterback plans so that he can’t be pinned down. He has said they need to address the position since Jones and DeVito are the only quarterbacks on the roster, and he’s keeping all options open in the draft.

But a key point has been raised in discussions with team and league sources this week: There’s a real concern about Jones’ injury history.

Read more here.

Much has changed in the last 16 years. Of the 14 quarterbacks attending this year’s combine, nine transferred once and two transferred twice. Only three of those 14 quarterbacks stayed with the same school — and all three left at least one year of eligibility on the table.

In 2024, did their transfers matter to general managers? Coaches? Media? Not nearly as much as they did 16 years ago.

“Maybe when I came out, in previous years before the rules being what they are now in college football, you would really want to evaluate that,” said Minnesota Vikings coach and former NFL quarterback Kevin O’Connell, a third-round pick in 2008. “But I think each individual player now, they need to be kind of evaluated and judged on their own.”

Read more here.

Stock Up: Mike Sainristil, CB, Michigan

The locker room leader of the 2023 national championship squad measured in about as expected: 5-9, 182 with 30 ⅞-inch arms. More important: He ran a 4.47 with an outstanding 10-split of 1.51 seconds. Sainristil also notched 40 inches on the vertical jump and scored 10-feet, 11-inches on the broad jump.

There were exceptions, but it was a strong day for the CB class in general. A good group coming into Indianapolis. Toledo’s Quinyon Mitchell ran a 4.33 and Clemson’s Nate Wiggins ran a 4.29 despite suffering a hip injury mid-run. In the TE group: Penn State’s Theo Johnson was outstanding with a 4.58 40, a 39 ½-inch vertical and a 10-5 broad jump at 6-6, 259.

Stock down: Kalen King, CB, Penn State

The Penn State corner continues to have a rough on-field portion of draft prep. King, who had a rough Senior Bowl (and was underwhelming, at times, on tape last season), ran a 4.61 40. Disappointing to be sure, though perhaps not the end of the world?

King won’t be a top 100 prospect on the majority of boards. But the 5-11, 191-pounder plays faster than he tested and might benefit from a look somewhere as a safety. Either way, not the day he wanted.

Up next: The QBs, kind of

Neither Caleb Williams nor Drake Maye nor Jayden Daniels will throw with the quarterbacks Saturday night. J.J. McCarthy, Bo Nix and Michael Penix all intend to throw. McCarthy did tell reporters Friday he wouldn’t run the 40, however. Elsewhere: Wide receivers and running backs will test.