NFL considering changes to the Combine

Is a college prospect's 40 time about to become less relevant? According to a really interesting report by Tom Pelissero, the NFL is considering making major changes to the Combine. Per Pelissero,

National Football Scouting Inc., which runs the combine, is establishing a committee of league executives, scouts, coaches, athletic trainers, team physicians and others to review all phases of the annual event starting this week in Indianapolis, according to company president Jeff Foster.

It's an interesting development, considering the standard testing has become such an important metric used by scouts and GMs alike. What would the Combine be like if the ubiquitous "40 time" wasn't even a part of it?

"Our first focus is to look at what we do currently and making sure that that's relevant," Foster told USA TODAY Sports. "And if it is, great, we'll continue to do it, because historical comparison is really important to the evaluation process. But if we believe that there's something that's not relevant, then what can we replace it with that will help us evaluate the players?"

Historical comparisons and established benchmarks around the tests are important for teams in making their evaluations, but as Pelissero points out, Combine prep with the specific goal of mastering these tests can be a pretty big waste of valuable development time. Players could be using the months leading up to the Combine actually preparing to, you know, play football.

Anyway -- sounds like nothing is imminent at this point, but it's something to keep an eye on this year.