NFL prospects have plenty of chances to prove themselves during the draft process, and one of the most player-friendly opportunities comes on their own turf.
NFL Pro Days are a spring staple as the draft nears each year. Surrounded by their teammates, players get a chance to showcase their skills and meet with teams in a familiar setting.
What is a Pro Day, and how does it differentiate from the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis? Here’s everything to know:
What are NFL Pro Days?
Get top local stories in San Diego delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC San Diego's News Headlines newsletter.
Pro Days are showcases for potential NFL prospects that take place on university campuses.
How is a Pro Day similar to the NFL combine?
Like the NFL combine, Pro Days are designed for prospects to measure, work out and interview with NFL coaches and evaluators.
Both events feature similar drills, including the 40-yard dash and position-specific exercises. They also include body measurements like height, weight and wingspan and give players a chance to meet face-to-face with coaches after brief interactions at the combine.
How is a Pro Day different from the NFL combine?
While the combine is an environment where scouts can evaluate prospects on a level playing field, Pro Days provide a more personal environment for players.
Instead of being surrounding by hundreds of players from all over the country, Pro Day workouts are centered around a much smaller group of players from a particular school. The same goes for coaches and the people running drills and measurements, as players get to work out under the instruction of people they know.
Since Pro Days take place after the combine, players have additional time to prepare. They can continue to improve in certain drills or use the added days to put on or cut weight compared to how they would have measured at the combine.
The method for logging times and results also differs between the combine and Pro Days. The 40-yard dash is laser-timed in Indianapolis and generally hand-timed at Pro Days.
Do players have to work out at the NFL combine?
NFL prospects are not required to take part in drills at the combine. Many will hold off on official workouts until their Pro Days.
Even if they aren’t working out or measuring, most prospects who are invited to the combine will still go to Indianapolis to go through interviews.
Do players have to work out at NFL Pro Days?
Pro Days are not required to work out at their Pro Days, even if they do not work out at the combine.
Wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. notably decided not to work out at the combine or the Ohio State Pro Day.
