NFL combine 2024 live updates: results, top performers and latest NFL Draft news
One thing we learned about all 32 teams in Indy
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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.
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What happens if Chargers must make the pick at No. 5?
There is a new regime in place with coach Jim Harbaugh and general manager Joe Hortiz. Harbaugh last made an NFL draft pick in 2014. Hortiz will be making his first pick as an NFL GM. We just do not have a lot of data to try and project how this pairing will operate. Compare that to previous Chargers GM Tom Telesco. We had more than a decade of picks to use. I had covered Telesco for five seasons. There was a ton of information to draw on in terms of prospect fits and roster construction. Predicting the draft involves a lot of educated guesswork, and I am flying more blindly this year than in years past.
The Chargers’ list of needs is extensive. They could use additional talent in every position group on the roster. That includes quarterback because they do not have a backup for Justin Herbert. Filling all those needs in one draft will be impossible. To take it even further, filling all of those needs in one offseason will be impossible. And so I had to prioritize based on the prospects available.
One final note before we dive in: Since this is our first mock of the offseason, I decided to make all the Chargers’ picks as they are currently slated. The picks in Rounds 4 to 7 are projected and will not be official until the NFL announces the compensatory picks closer to the draft. A trade down in the first round is absolutely an option, but we will have plenty of time to dive into those scenarios in later mocks and other draft-related stories.
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What we’re hearing about Vikings' offseason plans
All Kirk Cousins needs is one — one team willing to go above and beyond in terms of dollars and guarantees. But does that one team exist?
Over the weekend, The Athletic’s Dianna Russini mentioned the Atlanta Falcons as a possibility for Cousins, and she is right that “it makes all the sense in the world.” Owner Arthur Blank is 81. The Falcons’ roster is ready-made to compete. But Atlanta has often been linked with Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields.
If Atlanta does not push Minnesota, who will? The Las Vegas Raiders need a quarterback, but general manager Tom Telesco might consider his experience of trying to win early in San Diego and how that affected the future. The Washington Commanders’ leadership might want to quickly alter the franchise’s perception, but the Commanders’ roster is less well-rounded. There’s no obvious answer, and the clock is ticking.
The Vikings want Cousins back but on their terms. They believe his best option is with exceptional weapons, a familiar system and a city and locker room that have come to appreciate him for who he is. Whether Cousins agrees will likely depend on the gulf between the Vikings’ offer and another team’s. But again, there has to be another team.
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Packers 7-round mock draft: Who could they pick at No. 25?
Round 1, Pick 25: Tyler Nubin, S, Minnesota
The Packers’ top three safeties from last season — Darnell Savage Jr., Jonathan Owens and Rudy Ford — are set to become unrestricted free agents. The position is of paramount importance in new defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley’s scheme, especially free safety. Here is what The Athletic’s Dane Brugler says about Nubin, the No. 41 overall prospect on Brugler’s Big Board, which he released two weeks before the combine:
“Using his smooth athleticism and awareness, Nubin keeps everything in front of him. He can drive off the numbers in the deep half to overlap the seam or track and finish from the post. As an alley defender, he is fearless but controlled and comes to balance with low pads to finish tackles with authority. Nubin has a four-down skill set with playmaking instincts.”
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Falcons combine buzz: What we heard about Drake Maye, Justin Fields and more
The idea that North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye could be an option for the Atlanta Falcons would have seemed ludicrous a week ago, but after a week at the NFL Scouting Combine, it has become clear the Falcons need to keep an open mind about a lot of options.
From the beginning of the season, Maye was considered one of the top two quarterback prospects in this year’s draft class along with USC’s Caleb Williams, but Maye’s stock has dropped of late and he could be the fourth quarterback taken in this draft, according to a league source. The Athletic’s Dane Brugler still has Maye listed as the No. 2 quarterback and No. 4 prospect in his top 100, but combine week often leads to changes in rankings as media opinions begin to more closely align with scouting opinions.
For instance, Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy once seemed like an option, maybe even a not-so-inspiring option, for the Falcons with the No. 8 pick, but McCarthy’s stock with NFL scouts began to surpass that level in mid-October, the league source said. Now it’s possible McCarthy could go as high as No. 2 to the Washington Commanders.
If Williams goes first to the Chicago Bears as is widely expected and McCarthy is selected by the Commanders, things would get interesting at No. 3, which is held by the New England Patriots. Like the Falcons, the Las Vegas Raiders have been vocal about their desire to add a quarterback in the offseason, and head coach Antonio Pierce recruited Jayden Daniels and coached him at Arizona State (before Daniels transferred to LSU). Pierce and Daniels remain close, and the Raiders could make an aggressive offer to trade up from No. 13 to No. 3 to get Daniels.
The Falcons might be thinking the same thing, or they might be thinking about Maye. The North Carolina quarterback’s first combine meeting this week was with Falcons quarterbacks coach T.J. Yates, Maye said. Yates also is a former North Carolina quarterback.
“That was my first interview at the combine, so it made it easy being with a North Carolina guy,” Maye said. “I was really impressed (with the Falcons).”
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Is Michael Penix Jr. the answer in Seattle?
For the first time in 15 years with the Seattle Seahawks, John Schneider interviewed and watched the quarterback prospects at the NFL Scouting Combine knowing that if he wanted one of them in a Seattle uniform, he’d be making the final call.
Schneider wants to draft a quarterback every year, but has only selected two: Russell Wilson in the third round of the 2012 draft and Alex McGough in the seventh round of 2018. Seattle was known to have been interested in Andy Dalton in 2011, Patrick Mahomes in 2017, Josh Allen in 2018, Drew Lock in 2019 and went on a pro-day tour to visit the top four prospects in last year’s draft, but for one reason or another, the stars just haven’t aligned.
“If you guys sat in there with us,” Schneider told reporters at the combine, “it’s literally like, ‘OK, this one’s coming’ and then it doesn’t happen. ‘That one’s coming,’ and it doesn’t happen.”
This year’s draft has six quarterback prospects at the top of the class: USC’s Caleb Williams (the No. 1 prospect on the consensus draft board), North Carolina’s Drake Maye (No. 3), LSU’s Jayden Daniels (No. 10), Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy (No. 26), Oregon’s Bo Nix (No. 30) and Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. (No. 38).
The list of QB-needy teams scheduled to pick ahead of the Seahawks at 16th is so long that the 2024 draft could mirror 2021, when the first three selections were quarterbacks and five passers came off the board within the first 15 picks. If something similar happens in April, Seattle wouldn’t have many options if it wanted to take a QB with its top pick, either in the first round or after trading back.
But what if the last man standing from the top of the class is Penix?
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What is the latest on Dak Prescott contract talks?
At last year’s combine, Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said: “My bet is there’s not gonna be a lot said about it. We’ll wake up one day and it’ll be done.” It doesn’t sound like the two sides are any closer to an agreement today than they were at that time. There’s no question that Dallas wants Dak Prescott to remain its franchise quarterback. The Cowboys don’t want to do anything that would jeopardize losing Prescott, CeeDee Lamb or Micah Parsons. But the team would prefer to get a deal done that doesn’t reset the QB market. Right now, the highest-paid QB in terms of average annual value is Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow at $55 million per season. If Prescott, the NFL MVP runner-up, wants more than $55 million per season, he’s likely going to get it, it just might not be from the Cowboys. If Prescott ends up playing next season without a new deal in place, he’ll be able to hit free agency a year from now. If that happens, the Cowboys would then be bidding against any other team interested in Prescott’s services. He’ll be 31 at that time, young by franchise QB standards. There will certainly be interest from several other teams.
“We don’t need to (get a new contract done), but we can if everybody wants to solve it,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Friday. “If you can’t, what we have in place works. And so obviously, if you do it one way, then that gives you, you’ll be working through some of the other areas on the team in a different way. But you can’t really plan on that until you see where you are there. That’s what we’re doing.”
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What the league thinks about Caleb Williams
Let’s start with this: “The risk is passing on that quarterback again,” a league source said.
That was the general sentiment from many at the combine with the Bears having the first pick in consecutive years. It’s everything that Caleb Williams can potentially provide the Bears on the field but also the financial flexibility they would gain with a rookie quarterback under contract.
For the Bears not to take Williams, “he would have to bomb the process,” a scout said.
That’s not happening right now. One opposing coach whose team interviewed Williams said he was impressed with how composed the presumptive No. 1 pick was. Though two evaluators said some teams left Indianapolis with lingering questions about him, that’s to be expected. Teams are still gathering more information about him.
Most of the concerns remain off the field with Williams, who met the Bears on Wednesday night. Chairman George McCaskey and team president Kevin Warren were in the meeting.
Some league sources specifically questioned how the Bears — as an organization — would navigate everything that comes with a quarterback such as Williams. He’s not your typical rookie draft pick because of his significant NIL deals, tendency to buck trends and longtime marketing team. As one league source said, just check out his website.
“He’s already made millions,” the league source said. “He is a business.”
Williams’ ability to handle the pressure and scrutiny he’d face from the Chicago media and fans was mentioned. The Bears would have to be confident in his mental makeup and toughness.
“Does he have it up here?” a quarterbacks coach said, pointing to his head.
“Chicago could eat him up,” an executive said.
Regardless of what Williams told ESPN or said during his combine media session about playing for the Bears, one league source familiar with Williams said that there should be some concern that he and his father, Carl, could become infatuated with the idea of playing for the Washington Commanders as the long pre-draft process plays out.
The Commanders should have as many interactions with Williams as the Bears have with him.
At the very least, it’s something to watch, given how much time remains before the draft.
“He’s a Washington kid,” the league source said. “It’s his home.”
On the other hand, everything that Chicago offers as a market could be extremely appealing, two league sources said. There isn’t another market like it in the NFL. In that regard, one quote from Williams’ media session at the combine stands out: “I don’t compare myself to the other guys that are there or have been there. I think I’m my own player. I tend to like to create history and rewrite history.”
While one scout noted his 33 fumbles in 31 college starts, Williams’ physical ability isn’t what raises concerns. The consensus from league sources is there’s no questioning his talent.
Issues raised about Williams’ style of play quickly turned into praise. For example, one executive expressed concerns about Williams’ processing at the NFL level but then highlighted his rare ability to change his arm angles and also his quick release.
“The ceiling is too high,” another scout on an opposing team said.
He went on to lay out the best scenario for Williams, which would be a veteran locker room in which Williams wouldn’t have to necessarily come in and be in charge. The Bears hope they have that with receiver DJ Moore, tight end Cole Kmet and their leaders on defense.
Two additional sources familiar with Williams said there’s another thing that isn’t a debate — the quarterback’s love for football. Williams’ USC teammates have praised him at every stop since their season has ended.
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Raiders want to trade up in first round
The Raiders have been exploring trading up — and maybe not as high as you think, according to league and team sources. It may be unrealistic to swing a trade to move into the top three picks considering the Bears (pick No. 1), Commanders (No. 2) and New England Patriots (No. 3) need quarterbacks. Caleb Williams (USC), Daniels (LSU) and Drake Maye (North Carolina) are widely considered to be the top three quarterback prospects available.
Pierce has a strong relationship with Daniels stemming from leading his recruitment as an assistant coach at Arizona State — Daniels played there from 2019 to 2021 before transferring to LSU in 2022 — but there’s been chatter at the NFL combine that Daniels could go as high as the first pick in the draft. Perhaps there’s a window to trade up if the Bears and Commanders both take quarterbacks and the Patriots aren’t sold on whoever remains at pick No. 3, but that’s a difficult situation to project.
Telesco has also had conversations centered on potentially trading for picks in the 5 to 7 range, which are owned by the Los Angeles Chargers (pick No. 5), New York Giants (No. 6) and Tennessee Titans (No. 7). That type of trade could be made to put the Raiders in range for another trade up later or a player at another premium position, but it mostly makes sense if it’s a move up for a quarterback like Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy.
“You have to weigh how bad you want the player and how much you’re giving up,” Telesco said when asked about the idea of trading up for a quarterback. “It’s just a judgment decision. Part of that is we may think we know the player is going to hit, but we really don’t. You never 100 percent know.”
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Who impressed at the NFL combine?
Who stood out at the NFL combine? Dane Brugler has that and more with The Athletic Football Show.
Pick 18 feels like uneasy spot for Bengals
Judge a combine riser by the number of eyeball emoji tweets posted. It gives a feel of a handful of players advancing from good to great. That can and did happen with some. Yet, for the most part, these numbers are verifiers and not amplifiers. The thought around Indianapolis was that there aren’t 18 true first-round-graded players in this draft. As one league source put it, you’d probably rather be at 28 than 18, suggesting the value for Cincinnati could exist in a trade back this year.
Or, offensive line coach Frank Pollack offered a more specific view.
“I’ve heard debates say after the 12th pick in the draft, what’s the difference between 13 and 32?” he said. “It’s kind of that demarcation line of guys who have a smoother transition.”
That’s an interesting thought for a team 10 times more likely to trade back than up. Although it’s fun to think about the idea of going up for one of the premier tackles or top three receivers, sliding back and adding a Day 2 pick could be just what the roster needs.
Free agency will go a long way to that determination, but adding picks will always make player personnel director Duke Tobin’s heart flutter. There might be a strategic advantage to doing so again this year.
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Lions combine buzz: Will Detroit focus on WR in draft?
Wide receiver isn’t a huge need on paper, but it’s a position I’ve wondered if the Lions would look to address in the draft. Josh Reynolds is a free agent and the Lions have been without a true X receiver in this offense. It’s why Nick Baumgardner and I explored the possibility in our mock scenarios story a few weeks ago.
Well, the Lions met with at least a few wide receivers in Indy — LSU’s Brian Thomas Jr. (4.35 40), South Carolina’s Xavier Legette (4.39 40) and North Carolina’s Devontez Walker (4.36 40). They’re all physical receivers who ran very well in Indianapolis. Sensing a theme here? In what’s looking like a loaded wide receiver class, it’s possible the Lions believe they can get a talented young wideout on a rookie contract and save money elsewhere.
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Ravens combine buzz: Will Baltimore pounce on RB in free agency?
The question isn’t whether the Ravens will add a running back this offseason. With only Justice Hill, Keaton Mitchell and Owen Wright under contract, and it’s uncertain when Mitchell will return after sustaining a major knee injury in December, the NFL leaders in rushing yards last season have no choice.
“We need more than two running backs, so certainly I think you’ll see us make a couple of acquisitions along the way,” Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta said last week.
The pertinent question is just what level of asset will the Ravens be willing to invest in the position. When it comes to April’s draft, this year’s running back class is short on star power and may not be heard from until later on Day 2. It’s plausible the Ravens could get one of the better backs available with a third-round pick. Day 3 figures to include some intriguing possibilities, too.
Free agency, though, will offer the Ravens myriad opportunities. They haven’t traditionally spent big money in the open market on the position, but lining up a game-breaker such as Derrick Henry, Josh Jacobs or Saquon Barkley behind a dual-threat quarterback in Lamar Jackson is an enticing proposition for a team that has mostly adhered to a running back-by-committee approach in recent years. The Ravens were in advanced talks with the Tennessee Titans about Henry before the 2023 trade deadline. Yet, the Titans reversed course and decided they weren’t going to trade the 2020 Offensive Player of the Year.
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Steelers combine note: Lack of interest in outside QBs
Though Omar Khan and the Steelers have done their due diligence to evaluate the outside options, discussions with league sources paint a clearer picture.
The Steelers are not interested in signing Russell Wilson in the likely event he’s released by the Denver Broncos, a source familiar with the coaching staff’s feelings on the quarterback at this stage of his career told The Athletic.
Additionally, Pittsburgh is not among the teams actively working to trade for Justin Fields, league sources told The Athletic’s Dianna Russini. Pittsburgh is also not pursuing Kirk Cousins or Baker Mayfield in free agency, according to league sources.
The fact that Pittsburgh is not seriously courting an established starter to supplant Kenny Pickett lends more credence to Khan’s statement that he has “full faith” in Pickett. It appears the Steelers are hopeful that first-year offensive coordinator Arthur Smith can unlock something in the third-year QB that the NFL has not yet seen.
“He has shown us some good things,” Khan said. “Obviously, there were some issues with the offense. I’m excited about the impact Arthur Smith is going to have on him. Arthur is very optimistic about Kenny.”
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Commanders in QB holding pattern
Though armed with more personal and measurable data on the perceived top passers, Washington’s decision-makers returned home without a definitive outcome, according to internal sources. No fully-formed decision appears imminent for a specific quarterback or Washington’s first-round pick following interviews with Caleb Williams, Drake Maye, Jayden Daniels and McCarthy, and conversations with other teams.
That’s hardly a calamity. The draft remains over a month away. The information-gathering continues with college pro days and individual interviews at the team facility with a maximum of 30 prospects. The on-the-field parts are mainly known — “the tape is the tape” was frequently said all week — but learning about the person under the pads remains ongoing.
“That’s a huge part of really any position, getting to know the person,” general manager Adam Peters said. “That’s where we’ve always found in scouting (that) you make the biggest mistakes, more so on the person than the actual talent.”
Washington won’t have until April to finalize the QB plan. The unofficial legal tampering period for free agents starts March 11. Some teams will show their cards long before April’s festivities by acquiring veteran free agents Kirk Cousins and Baker Mayfield, trading with Chicago for Justin Fields or maneuvering around the draft board for a passer.
The best bet for the Commanders remains a choice at No. 2 between North Carolina’s Maye and LSU’s Daniels. Moving up to No. 1 for Williams, a Washington-area native with a Heisman Trophy resume and generational talent hype, or dropping a few spots to gather a massive haul of future picks and assets cannot be ruled out.
“I think we’d do anything to make our team better,” Peters, who led a staff at the combine for the first time, told NFL Network. “(Whether) trade up, trade down, (we) had a lot of good conversations with a lot of GMs this week. Really productive. So, we’re going to look through every avenue to make our team better.”
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Jets combine buzz: Jeff Ulbrich attractting interest
The San Francisco 49ers hired Nick Sorensen as their new defensive coordinator, but not before doing their due diligence on other options. That included Jets defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich. There was mutual interest in exploring a marriage, according to multiple league sources, but ultimately the Jets made it clear that they were not going to let Ulbrich leave. Teams can block coaches under contract from taking jobs with other teams unless it is a promotion (from position coach to coordinator, or coordinator to head coach), which was not the case here.
The 49ers never officially requested an interview with Ulbrich, but there were conversations about pursuing him. Ulbrich is beloved by Jets players and coaches and New York should have a top-flight defense again in 2024 after being ranked first by Pro Football Focus in 2022 and 2023 — but the 49ers are fresh off the Super Bowl.
Ulbrich also had reasons beyond football to think about a move to San Francisco: He was born in the Bay Area (in San Jose), and played linebacker and special teams for the 49ers for 10 seasons. Ulbrich also has desires to become a head coach and two of the last three 49ers defensive coordinators (Robert Saleh and DeMeco Ryans) become head coaches. The Jets likely would’ve required draft compensation from the 49ers to let him go, though there’s no guarantee Ulbrich would have even ultimately wanted to leave.
“My superpower, not to pat my own back: I’m in my feet,” Ulbrich said at the Senior Bowl. “I’m the defensive coordinator for the Jets and I owe it to them, to the organization, to the fan base, to everybody, that they get the best version of me. The best version of me is staying grounded and focused on being the defensive coordinator. If that brings that opportunity (to be a head coach), that’s beautiful. But if it doesn’t, I’m not holding my breath either, because I love what I do and I love where I’m doing it.”
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Did any other QBs move needle at the combine?
Dane Brugler: This is a boring answer, but nothing really happened on the field at the combine that will drastically alter how I view these quarterbacks. I set up shop at the 30-yard line and had a good view of every throw — there wasn’t anything too surprising.
The seven-step roll out and pocket-movement drills are especially interesting to get a sense of a player’s on-field mobility and how the ball comes off their hand, and I thought Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy had a strong outing. You have to go back five years to find a quarterback who posted a better three-cone time at the combine than his 6.82-second mark.
Nick Baumgardner: We saw some solid performances from McCarthy, Bo Nix and Michael Penix Jr. Some of the throws with which McCarthy was inconsistent Saturday, like intermediate corners and outs to his left, show up on tape. But his deep throws (and middle shots) were mostly on the money. He also hit 61 miles per hour on the radar gun, just behind Tennessee’s Joe Milton (62 mph), and that three-cone time confirmed his movement skills.
The drills helped verify that McCarthy’s a better athlete than Nix, who is a better athlete than Penix. QB-needy teams outside picks 1-3 are looking for reasons to draft McCarthy in the top half of the first based on his size, age and athletic traits. It’s hard to say he gave them a reason not to.
Diante Lee: I wouldn’t say it “moved the needle,” per se, but I enjoyed Penix’s throwing session. His timing and accuracy were mostly on point. There were other QBs clearly aiming the ball or throwing late/inside to ensure completions, so it was nice to watch a guy be clean, without apprehension, while working with new faces.
I’m usually the wet blanket with quarterbacks, though, so I don’t mind being that guy again. I don’t think anyone had expectations that Sam Hartman would blow up at the combine, but you can see a pretty clear difference between his arm talent and the guys I’d expect to be selected in the top 100 or 150. His resume is still enough to get him drafted, and he can carve out a career like Nick Mullens, but watching him in comparison to the others did stand out.
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