NFL Unveils Fan Tool for Analyzing Combine Data

The NFL scouting combine is a comprehensive event where a multitude of prospects undergo a series of drills, such as the 40-yard dash, vertical jump, and short shuttle, generating an abundance of data. This data provides invaluable insights but can be daunting even for experienced NFL executives and fans aspiring to become draft analysts.

The NFL’s NextGen Stats team has collaborated with Amazon QuickSight’s machine learning tool to transform these numerous metrics into a more digestible format through Combine IQ. This platform was launched to the public on the NFL’s website, aiming to simplify and enhance understanding of the combine data. “It’s in the name: Combine IQ,” explained Mike Band, NFL NextGen Stats’ senior manager for research and analytics. “We want fans to grasp the intricacies of the collected data and make it both insightful and accessible.”

This new dashboard processes results from all combine drills, incorporating RFID sensor data from athletes, and integrates a comprehensive player projection model. This model evaluates college performance, physical attributes, and a consensus of 10 draft rankings, providing each player with scores ranging from 50 to 99 for athleticism, production, and overall draft potential.

Analyzing combine data back to 2003, the NextGen Stats team allows fans to compare players across a span of over twenty years, establishing a correlation between these rankings and NFL success metrics, such as starting positions or Pro Bowl appearances. The team guarantees the accuracy of data before it’s posted on the website, typically within ten minutes following the completion of a drill. These insights are readily available online and utilized by NFL Network during combine broadcasts.

The data can be analyzed to highlight top performers across various metrics, with specialized graphs available to compare players in identical drills and measurements, including production and athleticism ratings crafted by NextGen Stats. “These are professional-level analytics once exclusive to NFL teams, now accessible to fans worldwide, which is quite exciting,” stated Ari Entin, AWS’s sports marketing head. “This represents a new frontier in capturing, visualizing, and analyzing athletic performance in real-time.”

For those players not participating in the combine drills, the model generates estimated athleticism scores based on accumulated college data. Delving deeper than just raw times, the model assesses parameters like top speed, 10-yard split, and acceleration. For instance, last year, Xavier Worthy achieved remarkable speeds at every 10-yard segment, setting a 40-yard dash record at 4.21 seconds.

The platform additionally correlates combine performance with NFL success per position, emphasizing the significance of athleticism scores for edge rushers and cornerbacks, while being less critical for roles like centers and safeties. It also identifies position-specific benchmarks, such as running backs achieving a “good” classification with a 40-yard dash time of 4.53 or faster if under 210 lbs, or 4.58 if above. Similar standards are applied across other tests, relevant to position-specific demands, like three-cone drills for running backs and edge rushers, or vertical jumps for receivers. Even larger players, such as offensive tackles, have specific thresholds based on historical draft data from the past twenty years.

“The model excels at identifying critical thresholds,” Band commented. “Surpassing these rankings or grades strengthens the predictive abilities beneath them. Our aim is for our big board to reflect the consensus, with advanced metrics in athleticism, production, and size deciding tie-breakers.”