One of the NFL’s top head coaches will once again skip the upcoming Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.
Per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay informed reporters on Thursday that he’ll be skipping next week’s Scouting Combine. This will be the fourth straight year without McVay present.
McVay explained that for him, the main focuses are a) what the game tape shows and b) the person’s character. McVay even admitted that the Combine is “not as important” for his football team:
“I’m not going to the Combine. I think the most important thing is what the tape looks like and then what is the vetting and the human being. If there’s anything that has consistently become clear when you reflect on the seven years and as [General Manager] Les [Snead] and I, and really our organization, continue to identify the types of players that we want in our building, and really types of people in general, it’s people that are tough. It’s people that cannot allow the outside circumstances to dictate their response.
But there’s a steadiness, there’s a commitment to core values and principles, they love football, they want to keep the main thing the main thing. Then as it relates to just the evaluation, the tape is the best guide. I do think that those other things are good metrics, but we’re asking guys to play football not run track and field. It is something that’s a measurable, but it’s not as important as some of the other things for us.”
While some fans and analysts may not like McVay’s response, the Rams’ draft record under him and GM Les Sneak speaks for itself. Not a whole lot was initially made of the Cooper Kupp, Puka Nacua, Kyren Williams, Kobie Turner, Jordan Fuller, Joe Noteboom or Brian Allen draft picks.
But all of those men wound up exceeding expectations at the NFL level, growing into quality starters for the Rams.
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Also, the Rams haven’t held a first-round pick since 2016, when they used the No. 1 selection on Jared Goff. The Rams have sustained a contending team without first-round picks for almost a decade now, so it’s easy to understand why McVay personally doesn’t put too much value on the Scouting Combine.
