Evaluating the 2025 NFL Combine: Does Performance Translate to Success?

When Is the NFL Combine?

The various positional groups will be measured and worked out starting on Thursday, February 27th, and ending on Sunday, March 2nd. This is merely a precursor to the 2025 NFL Draft in April, where teams create evaluations of college football’s top prospects. Those evaluations consist of their body of work at the college ranks as well as their scores at the Combine.

The 2025 NFL Combine can be seen live on NFL Network, NFL+, or Fubo. The on-field workouts are on the following days according to position:

• Thursday, Feb. 27 (3 p.m. to 8 p.m. ET): Defensive linemen, linebackers
• Friday, Feb. 28 (3 p.m. to 9 p.m. ET): Defensive backs, tight ends
• Saturday, March 1 (1 p.m. to 9 p.m. ET): Quarterbacks, wide receivers, running backs
• Sunday, March 2 (1 p.m. to 5 p.m. ET): Offensive linemen

Recipe for Success?

Certainly, the Combine is a critical time for young men to prove how fast they can run and how much they can lift. Strength and speed are indispensable, and the more a player has, the better his chances of success at the next level. The Combine may not be a panacea, but it does provide some insight into the physical mechanics of an individual, while the Wonderlic test scores mental aptitude.

This year the top picks are expected to be quarterbacks Shedeur Sanders and Cam Ward, but NFL rumors are suggesting they will likely skip the workout portion as neither has anything to gain by participating. However, both are expected to attend and meet with team officials who may be interested in drafting them.

BetUS is offering a full menu of NFL Combine props, and there is little question that the NFL Combine 40-yard dash is the most highly anticipated event. The man who ran it faster than any other is Chiefs wide receiver Xavier Worthy, who looked like greased lightning last year, finishing in 4.21 seconds, barely breaking the previous mark of 4.22 seconds set in 2017 by John Ross.

Worthy was subsequently taken at the end of the first round in the 2024 NFL Draft and ended with 59 catches on 98 targets for six touchdowns and 638 receiving yards in his rookie year. A decent beginning to what could be a productive career, but it is still too early to tell.

However, if we look at the man whose record he beat, John Ross, we know that he made NFL news when he wowed everyone in the building with his blazing time and was taken No. 9 overall in the 2017 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals. However, he had very little impact on the team and was sidelined with a series of injuries over his four seasons in Cincinnati.

He then signed a one-year deal with the Giants, catching 11 passes on 20 targets for 224 yards and one touchdown. The Giants did not re-sign him, and he was released by the Eagles in December last year.

Ross proved to be a Combine star but an NFL bust. We shall see what this weekend’s events hold, but a standout Combine performance is no guarantee of a stellar NFL career.