For all the attention it gets, the NFL combine is nearly devoid of any sort of news. Prospects run and get measured and take tests. Personnel people and reporters gather in one place to talk about non-combine stuff, free agents and whatnot. It’s all just filler during a relatively dead spot in the sports calendar, when the NBA is still on its all-star break and pitchers and catchers are just starting to report.
Hence, the drama (term applied very loosely) over whether quarterbacks Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota, the draft’s two show ponies by virtue of their Heisman Trophies, will actually throw at the combine.
Here’s the thing: In then end, this probably won’t matter. Like, at all. But don’t take my word for it. Here’s Peter King, who has seen a combine or two in his day.
Here is an (admittedly incomplete) list of quarterbacks who have not thrown at the combine.
Did this decision hurt or help their draft stock? Probably not. Most top prospects will take part in a pro day closer to the draft, anyway, and they’ll likely throw there. Right now, it just doesn’t matter, unless we’re talking about optics.
“I’ve talked to 25 different people that have been at [Winston’s] practices and have watched him and so forth and so on, and I think everybody feels that he should throw because he’s going to look impressive,” former Dallas Cowboys personnel executive Gil Brandt told For the Win. “I think he’ll do well, he’ll have a captive audience and maybe, just maybe if he does it, it’ll soften some of the things that have happened in the past regarding his off the field things, like the stealing of the crab legs.”
After spending the first 17 years of his Post career writing and editing, Matt and the printed paper had an amicable divorce in 2014. He's now blogging and editing for the Early Lead and the Post's other Web-based products.
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