Pro Day events crucial in scouting process with no NFL Combine
Virus makes in-person interaction with players ‘really non-existent.’
Scouting for the NFL Draft is much different now than it was a year ago when there was a Combine and a normal college season full of tape to watch, but the Cincinnati Bengals plan to make the most of opportunities to see players live at their Pro Day events.
College Pro Days began March 5 and continue into early April, as NFL prospects take part in predraft drills, such as the 40-yard dash, broad jump and vertical tests. NFL teams are allowed to send up to three representatives to each one, and the NFL Network is broadcasting a number of them.
Bengals coach Zac Taylor said he was penciled in to go to a couple Pro Day events, but the organization would have people at as many of them as possible. The NFL Combine, which normally takes place at the end of February, was canceled because of the COVID19 pandemic, and Pro Days now become even more important in the scouting process ahead of the draft April 29-May 1.
“We’ve got our staff that’s already on the road — our scouts, our coaches — so we’re going to hit as many as we can,” Taylor said during a virtual news conference Wednesday.
Although team representatives are able to talk to coaches and other people at the Pro Day events, Taylor said in-person interactions with the players is “really non-existent” to protect them as best as possible during the pandemic.
Normally there also would have been face-to-face interviews done at the combine, which went on last year before the pandemic turned things upside down, but
NFL scouts and coaches are doing most of the conversations with prospects on Zoom now.
“Previously you’d see the guy at the combine, you’d see him at his Pro Day, maybe take him to dinner, make a phone call, a couple phone calls to him,” Taylor said. “Now you’re face to face talking through video with him during the interviews — things that we probably had at our disposal before, but we didn’t realize it. Now that you do, you can find some information some other ways. Obviously I don’t think anything’s a substitute for being able to see a guy face to face, talk to him and get a better feel for him personally. Again, the use of Zoom, in terms of interviewing players has been productive for us.”
Director of player personnel Duke Tobin said the Bengals were able to scout players live from the stands at a few games during the college season, and the team also found it helpful to be able to attend the Senior Bowl.
However, by this point, teams are further along in their evaluations of players.
“Not seeing them in person leaves you a little concerned at this time of the year, but we’ll get to the pro days, get a view of them in person, get some confirmed measurables – that will be great,” Tobin said. “Then there’s a real heavy lift in getting all the medical information we need to make informed decisions on guys that we are gonna be drafting. That’s a big piece of what’s going on. The NFL trainers association is doing a great job of trying to put that together.”
Tobin said evaluating players who opted out of the 2020 season is a challenge, too, and even “somewhat concerning” because teams are left making a bigger projection for them than those who played the full three or four years.
That won’t necessarily prevent the Bengals from taking one of those players but they’ll have to do more work to feel comfortable with the information they bring to the draft table.
“We see video that’s being sent and posted from different workout facilities, but hopefully we’ll be able to get in front of these players on Zoom meetings,” Tobin said. “Then we’ll also be able to see them in person at their schools. When you look at a guy you can tell what they’ve been doing. You can tell if they’ve been doing nothing, you can tell if they’ve been working hard. If they’re not playing, there’s nothing to evaluate and that’s just the way it is and everybody is in the same boat with those guys.”
Many draft experts project the Bengals with the No. 5 pick taking Oregon tackle Penei Sewell, who opted out of the 2020 season but has drawn comparisons to Cincinnati legend Anthony Munoz. Others have predicted a reunion between Joe Burrow and his former LSU teammate, wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase. Oregon’s Pro Day is April 2; LSU’s is March 31.
Tobin said the team would always be open to trading down, depending on compensation and what it would mean for the Bengals’ chances of still getting a player of need, but the spot provides flexibility to add in different ways.
Asked how enticing it would be to add a wide receiver for Burrow to target, Taylor said “there’s a lot of ways … (to) help Joe.”
“To be able to add things whether that is up front, at receiver or adding guys on defense that keep the point totals down on defense that allow us to do some better things on offense as well you have to take all those options as they come at you with whatever pick it is,” Taylor said. “The fifth pick, whatever, we have to be flexible as this thing goes. Whatever. Just excited to help our team in any way that we can.”