The first tentpole event of the NFL offseason has officially arrived as it is finally NFL Combine week. All we had to do was wait two weeks after the Super Bowl to sink our teeth into something new.
Part of what is exciting about combine week is that it will bring notes and sounds from NFL dignitaries which will help us understand the roster decisions to be made in the coming weeks. Obviously getting information about the actual prospects is the point, but this is really just a window of time where anything goes.
The fun is about to begin. Here at The Skinny Post we, Michael Peterson and RJ Ochoa, make sure you do not miss any of it.
A hypothetical Matthew Stafford trade feels like it would not help anyone
RJ:
As last weekend began the Los Angeles Rams essentially said that they were fine with Matthew Stafford seeking a potential trade. This felt somewhat inevitable.
Stafford is one of the largest would-be dominoes who can fall across this offseason at the quarterback position (maybe Kirk Cousins is the other? Aaron Rodgers?). There is no question that he is wildly talented and the Rams benefitted greatly by trading for him themselves what with parlaying it into a Super Bowl in their first season together… but 2025 will be Year 17 for Matthew Stafford. Read that again. It is insane.
Consider that Peyton Manning played 17 total seasons (he missed the entire 2011 season so that requires a bit of an asterisk). We regard him as having played forever and for some reason Stafford, who ironically faced injury questions early in his career, doesn’t carry that same reputation.
As far as the here and now is concerned Stafford is certainly still a capable player. But to reference Manning once more… he suffered a severe drop off in play in that 17th season, even if the Denver Broncos did win the Super Bowl at the end of it.
The Rams moving Stafford would leave themselves with a huge question mark at the game’s most important position, and whoever hypothetically trades for him will be taking a huge gamble to say the least.
This feels weird.
Michael:
Has quality quarterback play really become so rare that 37-year-old Matthew Stafford might actually command over $50 million in his next contract, whether that’s with the Rams or elsewhere? Yes.
As you said, he is still a capable quarterback, but Stafford took that same Peyton Manning-esque step back in 2024 as he threw for just 20 touchdowns. That’s the lowest total he’s had in any season of his career in which he played at least 15 games. His 3,764 passing yards is also the lowest total inside those parameters, as well.
In a league that’s mainly paid players for what they just got done instead of what their future expectations are, it doesn’t seem right that a team would fork out that much money in hopes that 2024 is more of an exception than the norm.
So yes, this feels very weird.
Is the NFL doing the right thing by continuing to tweak the kickoff structure?
Michael:
I don’t know about you, but I really enjoyed the new dynamic kickoffs this past season. I was a fan of them in the XFL and I liked them even more in the NFL. Now, it’s being reported that more changes could come in time for the 2025 campaign.
First, the NFL is toying around with placing the ball at the 35-yard line instead of the 30 following touchbacks. The starting place of the ball on kickoffs would also move back 5 yards, as well. This would obviously push for more returns as teams would be less likely to launch the ball through the back of the end zone.
NFL Competition Committee chairman Rich McKay said on Sunday that the proposal for teams to try and convert a fourth-and-20 from their own 20-yard line — something proposed by the Eagles a year ago — may be back on the table this offseason.
I think this would be another awesome change, honestly. Let teams risk the biscuit a little bit more. Make games more chaotic towards the end.
It’s what we all want, right?
RJ:
I’m going to sound very old here and am okay with that… I hate all of this.
To be clear my primary stance is that I am most in favor of whatever is the most safe and secure for NFL players. That should be the top priority.
But are we long enough into the new format — which we were told was for this express purpose — to have enough data to reach a legitimate conclusion on? Or are we bored and trying to tinker?
The kickoff is so meaningless that I am more than fine with just eliminating it. Start the teams at their respective yard lines as if this were overtime in college football.
Be done with it.
Should the NFL Combine stay in Indianapolis or move around like the Draft?
RJ:
This subject comes up every year and I think it is important to say that I personally have not been to an NFL Combine in Indianapolis. Just for context’s sake.
For more context though I have been to an NFL event there as I saw the Dallas Cowboys visit the Indianapolis Colts in 2018 and had the absolute best time (the Cowboys lost badly and this was still true). Indy is a great city for events what with how they designed it with the tunnel system and all that jazz and what’s more… I love traditions in the NFL.
It is very cool that the NFL Draft moves around and that other cities and fanbases have the opportunity to show off who they are to the world at large, but there is something cool about how the Combine is always in Indy.
Keep it there. Quit changing stuff. I have spoken.
Michael:
I don’t have much to add to this because I agree wholeheartedly.
The combine has stayed in Indianapolis for a ton of logistical reasons. Its location is centered well around local hotels, restaurants, and other points of interest in the city. As much as I do normally believe change is a good thing, I don’t think it’s worth the effort and potential risk of throwing off the event’s primo feng shui for the sake of letting other cities host.
Let’s just keep this un-broken thing very much un-broken.
Which position group is your favorite to watch at the NFL Combine and why is it going to be the offensive/defensive linemen?
Michael:
I’m ready to plant my flag on this hill and hold it like my life depended on it.
All the skill positions will get the most attention because fans like to see the fastest speeds and furthest jumps, but you can’t tell me that’s more exciting than watching the largest human beings on the planet do the same exact drills while hauling around 80-100 pounds more of body weight. Seeing gargantuans fly across the field and soar through the air will never get old.
Sure, seeing that 175-pound wide receiver run a 4.32 in the 40-yard dash is cool, but what about watching a 310-pound offensive tackle run a 4.80? Or the 285-pound defensive end recording a sub-4.6 and jumping over 35 inches in the vertical?
Bring on all the dancing bears, please. It’s must-watch television, in my opinion.
RJ:
My answer is a bit of a cheat.
I don’t have any one specific drill that I love more than the other, but I really get a kick out of when they impose different 40-yard dashes over one another and play around with it.
The NFL Combine matters, don’t get me wrong. But this is glorified testing and data acquisition.
If I must vote then the linemen can have my vote so Michael is not alone.
