When is the NFL Combine 2023?

There are only a couple of weeks until the pre-draft season begins in earnest with the 2023 NFL Combine.

The National Football League just completed another incredibly successful season capped by one of the most compelling Super Bowls in league history, but the clamoring for more from fans creates a year-round demand. Fortunately, the NFL has learned well how to create a spectacle out of most things, including the pre-draft season with the annual NFL Combine.

The 2023 NFL Combine is the first big event of the offseason, a chance for the league to once again draw millions of eyes and hundreds of prospects with an assortment of drills for skills, so to speak, a series of tests intended to help separate the NFL hopefuls from one another at each position.

When and where is the 2023 NFL Combine?

The NFL Combine is held annually in Indianapolis, Indiana. This year, the first positional groups set to arrive in Indy are the defensive linemen and linebackers on February 26. They arrive and get settled on the first day and then each position goes through a few days of activities.

• Day 1: Registration, exam, orientation, team interviews
• Day 2: More team interviews, medical exam
• Day 3: NFLPA meeting, media interviews, ortho exam, more team interviews
• Day 4: Measurements, on-field workouts
• Day 5: Bench press, leave Indy

Here are the dates for each positional group.

• DL/LB: Feb. 26 – Mar. 3
• DB/Specialists: Feb. 27 – Mar. 4
• QB/WR/TE: Feb. 28 – Mar. 5
• OL/RB: Mar. 1 – Mar. 6

You can see the complete player schedule here.

How many college prospects will be at the 2023 NFL Combine?

The league has invited 319 total players for this year’s Combine, which is an astronomical figure given that only 250 or so will be taken in the seven rounds of April’s draft.

What makes the 2023 NFL Combine so important?

It’s important for Kansas City Chiefs general manager Brett Veach to see his big board for the draft all in the same place at the same time. Players who are closely linked together will now get a chance to separate themselves. They get face time with the players, see how they take to coaching, get separate medical updates, and of course, can watch the drills.

The Combine itself should never be a primary driver of player value, but it can help sort out players from one another at crowded positions. Plus it might allow a team’s scouts or general manager to see some prospects up close if they are from far away or smaller schools.

Further value of the 2023 NFL Combine

For the Kansas City Chiefs, the Combine is a chance to get up close and personal with a lot of prospects all in the same place, but it’s also good for other business. Every general manager in the business will be in Indianapolis, and the same can be said of agents. It’s an opportune time to discuss trades, negotiate deals, update contacts, and generate ideas.

Remember that it wasn’t too long after the NFL Combine last year that the Chiefs tried to sign Tyreek Hill before ultimately dealing him. It was also a likely point to talk about a long-term extension with Orlando Brown Jr. Talks for the latter could even continue this year in Indy, as could further discussions with the likes of wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster or safety Juan Thornhill.