Every year, the NFL Scouting Combine allows some of the NFL’s top draft prospects to work out and show what they can do in front of a collection of NFL coaches, scouts, and general managers. But once again, Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay will not be in attendance.
Sean McVay has not attended the NFL Scouting Combine since 2020. And during a press conference on Thursday, he made it clear that he does not intend to break that streak this year.
“I’m not going to the Combine,” McVay told reporters on Thursday, when asked the question of balancing prospect production and character. “I think the most important thing is what the tape looks like and then what is the vetting and the human being. If there’s anything that has consistently become clear when you reflect on the seven years and as [General Manager] Les [Snead] and I, and really our organization, continue to identify the types of players that we want in our building, and really types of people in general, it’s people that are tough. It’s people that cannot allow the outside circumstances to dictate their response. But there’s a steadiness, there’s a commitment to core values and principles, they love football, they want to keep the main thing the main thing. Then as it relates to just the evaluation, the tape is the best guide.
“I do think that those other things are good metrics, but we’re asking guys to play football not run track and field. It is something that’s a measurable, but it’s not as important as some of the other things for us.”
It’s clear that he just doesn’t think his attendance is necessary to get the information he needs on prospects.