{"id":777633,"date":"2026-02-26T13:50:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T13:50:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/777633\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T13:50:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T13:50:16","slug":"2026-nfl-combine-what-is-the-best-part-of-the-pre-draft-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/777633\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 NFL Combine: What is the best part of the pre-draft event?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">On Tuesday, Feb. 26, the 2026 NFL Combine will kick off the on-field drills portion of the week. Starting around 3 p.m. ET, defensive linemen, anda linebackerswill participate in a myriad of drills\u2014all televised live on NFL Network or via the NFL+ app. Before that, measurements will start rolling in for the group, giving the public a baseline of size, weight, arm length, and the like.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Of course, the NFL Combine has already been well underway for nearly a full week already. The first group of players arrived in Indianapolis on Sunday, and most position groups have already started (and finished) their meetings with teams looking to draft them. Team coaches and general managers have already spoken to the media\u2014and many have already left (or never came in the first place). Player media sessions will continue through Saturday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">That\u2019s all to say there is a ton that has already happened in Indianapolis, and plenty more to come through Monday. So today\u2019s Question of the Day is:<\/p>\n<p>What is your favorite part of the NFL Combine?<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">My answer: It\u2019s still the player interviews.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Personally, I don\u2019t get all that excited watching athletic drills. I do understand the importance of seeing how fluid a player can move, how fast they are, and their body configuration, but much of that information can be had on a spreadsheet, and everything else can be just as much derived from their actual game tape.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">What can\u2019t be replicated on tape is character. And my primary reason for going to this event in back-to-back years is to try and get my own character evaluation through these short media sessions. It certainly isn\u2019t easy when these prospect are going through a high-stress situation, and I\u2019m elbow to elbow with reporters from every inch of the media landscape. But when it comes to evaluating prospect, the character element is so important when trying to project which players the Lions will vibe with. Which is why that is my focus on coverage of this year\u2019s draft class thus far.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Obviously, fans aren\u2019t always privy to that information, so I\u2019m curious to hear what you all get out of the NFL Combine. What is your favorite part of the week-long event? Share your answers in the comment section at the bottom of the page.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Tuesday, Feb. 26, the 2026 NFL Combine will kick off the on-field drills portion of the week.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":777634,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2071],"tags":[146,113,52105,84539,2506,7,147,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-777633","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-detroit-lions","8":"tag-detroit","9":"tag-detroit-lions","10":"tag-detroit-lions-conversation-starters-and-community-questions","11":"tag-detroit-lions-discussion","12":"tag-detroitlions","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-lions","15":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116137258226479905","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777633\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}