The NFL Scouting Combine Is Much Ado About Nothing For Fantasy Football Fans

Michael Fabiano | Feb 26, 2025

Bucky Irving was the top fantasy running back in 2024, but his performance at the NFL's Scouting Combine was nondescript. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The 2025 NFL Scouting Combine (February 24-March 3) is the NFL’s first major event of the offseason. Around 300 eligible prospects will be invited to the event, which will once again be held at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana (the home of the NFL Combine since 1987). Here are the dates for each of the positions in terms of their workouts:

2025 NFL Combine Dates

Feb. 27: Defensive lineman, linebackers
Feb. 28: Defensive backs, tight ends
March 1: Quarterbacks, wide receivers, running backs
March 2: Offensive linemen

From a fantasy football perspective, Feb. 28 and March 1 are the two most important dates since they feature the top offensive skill positions. Regardless, I would argue players who perform well or poorly at the Combine isn’t a good gauge of how that prospect might work out at the NFL level.

Could it bring out a few names to watch? Absolutely. Does it make that player a lock to enter the league and make an immediate fantasy football impact? No.

The proof is in the numbers. Let’s take a look at last year’s Combine results and whether or not those performances signaled a player who might do well (or not) in his rookie year.

40-Yard Dash

This drill is the most notable at the Combine. Xavier Worthy was the star last year, running a Combine record 4.21 40-yard dash. Brian Thomas Jr. was the second-fastest wideout and third overall with a 4.33, followed by Adonai Mitchell at seventh overall (4.34), Devontez Walker (4.36) at eighth overall and Jacob Cowing (4.38), who ranked 14th overall.

Obviously, Worthy and Thomas Jr. made major fantasy impacts. BTJ finished fourth among all wideouts. Worthy was 33rd, but he had more success down the stretch.

The other three in the top five, Mitchell, Walker and Cowing, didn’t do much during their rookie years. Among the top-10 wideouts at the Combine based on the 40, the only other receiver who made a fantasy impact was Ladd McConkey … he ran a 4.39 and was the WR12.

The best 40-yard dash among running backs was Isaac Guerendo (4.33), who was fifth overall. While he did show some flashes in Year 1, he finished as the RB48. Jaylen Wright was second among backs and 10th overall at 4.38, Trey Benson was 20th overall at 4.39, Keilan Robinson was 24th overall (4.42) and Jaden Shirden was 36th overall (4.45). None of them did much in fantasy leagues (Shirden wasn’t picked in the 2024 NFL Draft).

The top fantasy rookie running back, Bucky Irving (4.55), was 14th among backs in the 40-yard dash. He wasn’t even in the top 80 overall. Tyrone Tracy Jr., the second-best rookie runner, finished just eighth among runners and a mere 59th overall with a 4.48 dash.

Ricky Pearsall performed well in some 2024 NFL Combine drills, but he didn't make much of a fantasy impact in Year 1. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Vertical Jump

Three of the five best prospects in this drill were wide receivers, as Malik Washington (42.5), Jalen Coker (42.5) and Ricky Pearsall (42.0) all performed well. However, none of them made a fantasy impact. Worthy was fourth among wideouts, and Walker was fifth. Thomas Jr. and McConkey didn’t even finish in the top 35 among all players in this particular drill.

Guerendo also led the running backs in this drill (seventh overall), while Tracy Jr. finished second (18th overall). Believe it or not, but fantasy’s best rookie back in 2024, Irving, had an awful vertical jump (29.5). So, he wasn’t very impressive in this particular combine drill.

Bench Press

This drill is obviously dominated by the big boys, as seven of the top eight performers were defensive players. However, we did see a few running backs post strong numbers (the pun intended). Blake Corum (27) was tied for eighth overall, and Braelon Allen (26) tied for 10th.

None of the runners who participated in this drill made a fantasy impact, whether they did well or not. Among the wideouts who did the bench press, only one finished in the top 35 overall (Ainias Smith – 21 reps). None of the wide receivers who participated in this drill and performed well went on to make a 2024 fantasy impact (Thomas Jr., McConkey).

Broad Jump

The broad jump is for the more athletic prospects, so you’ll see a lot of wide receivers and defensive backs do well. For our purposes, Mitchell was the best wideout … he had a 136-broad jump and tied for second overall. However, the only receiver who did well in this drill and went on to make a fantasy impact was Worthy. He finished 12th with a 131-inch jump.

The top running backs in this drill were Wright, who finished fifth overall, and Guerendo, who was 24th. Irving didn’t do well in this drill, either, finishing near the bottom of all the participating prospects. Tracy Jr. was better than Irving, but he wasn’t great in the drill.

Three-Cone Drill

This drill featured a number of notable players at the top. Pearsall was second and Tracy Jr. was fifth. The best quarterback was J.J. McCarthy, who ranked eighth. A name I haven’t mentioned yet, Rome Odunze, was 13th among all prospects (his second-best finish). The three-cone drill didn’t give us much insight into fantasy success either, however. Thomas Jr., McConkey and Worthy didn’t participate among wideouts, and Irving sat it out for backs.  

Shuttle

Fantasy fans did see some big names in the shuttle, as the likes of Odunze, Pearsall, Tracy Jr. and Corum all participated and finished in the top 10. Of course, Tracy Jr. was the lone member of the group who had some level of fantasy football success in Year 1. Many of the other big prospect names, like Thomas Jr., McConkey and Irving, failed to participate.

Fantasy Football Impact

I have never been a big “combine guy,” because you can’t really know a player’s true fantasy value until he’s drafted by an actual NFL team. And if we learned anything from last year’s scouting combine, it’s that it’s often much ado about nothing in the fantasy world. The eventual best fantasy back, Irving, wasn’t what you would call a combine star. Worthy did pop at the event, finishing well in a few drills, but he wasn’t even a top-30 fantasy wideout.

This is the trend in the combine, as players like Tom Brady, Anquan Boldin and Jarvis Landry (to name just a few) didn’t perform well but went on to great NFL careers. Boldin went on to have a great rookie season. Heck, people still make fun of Brady’s combine and he went on to become the best quarterback in the history of the NFL.

On the flip side, Darius Heywood-Bey, Matt Jones and Troy Williams are just a few of the players who were great at the combine but went on to have lackluster careers.

At the end of the day, the combine is just the NFL’s attempt at staying relevant and in the news cycle in the weeks after the Super Bowl. It’s obviously an important event for all the prospects, coaches, scouts and general managers, but I often get more useful information from the individual coaching interviews than from what happens on the field.

So, for those fantasy fans looking to watch the combine to find the next great rookie, I wouldn’t expect much. That won’t happen until the completition of the NFL Draft.