Two NFL experts criticise Dallas head coach Mike McCarthy’s decision

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As the NFL Combine approaches, this has traditionally been an important time for the college prospects to showcase their talent in front of potential employers.

This event is one of the first times that head coaches and their staff get to see who catches their eye and ticks their boxes.

Purposes of the draft

Coaches have the opportunity to mingle and speak to the draftees and get to know them as a person. An important moment, as you see how players hold themselves and what type of personality do they possess outside of the game.

However, in recent times, the event has maybe lost its value. Head coaches are opting to not attend, whilst some college stars, confident that they will be selected regardless, will choose to not partake in certain drills.

Dallas Cowboys HC Mike McCarthy has already stated that he will not be travelling to the NFL Combine hosted in Indianapolis.

The 60-year-old may certainly have valid reasons but key figures like him not attending is not the greatest look for the event.

On the opening day, the quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers all take to the field to display their talents. Three football positions which are a crucial to the spine of every offense in the National Football League.

The absence of McCarthy and others has been noted down by many media personalities. One being Rich Eisen and on his show he was adamant about the value the combine still possesses for coaches in all departments.

‘Does the combine still matter’

Eisen opened the conversation saying: “We are hearing coaches aren’t showing up more and more…they are staying home.”

Prompting Chris Brockman to ask: “Does the combine still matter?”

Eisen definitively replied: “The combine still matters, it never won’t matter.

“I take it the coaches ain’t showing up because the broadcast is so damn good. I have been told by coaches saying I get more from watching it at home then I do sitting there with my notepad and my 40-yard dash stopwatch.

“The reason why the combine exists is for the medical reasons…the most important thing you need to know is how healthy they are.”

Long-time Cowboys beat writer, Mike Fisher, has also expressed his disappointment: “I do not agree with the assertion from McCarthy.

McCarthy was quoted from ESPN saying: “The workload capacity and time efficiency makes more sense for them to remain here at The Star (in Frisco).”

Fisher was confused at the idea that the combine, in a sense, was a waste of valuable time: “There is no cap of man hours when integrating a new coach and his system.

“There is not a cap on man hours when it comes to devoting time to scouting research ahead of the April draft.”

According to Fisher, they have time for both, attending the NFL Combine and watching film in training while integrating Mike Zimmer new DC.

Top prospects not throwing at combine

College quarterbacks such as Caleb Williams (USC) and Jayden Daniels (LSU) are projected first-rounders and have declared they will not be throwing at the Combine.

Eisen stated the reasons for these decisions: “He (Williams) doesn’t want to throw is because he may sail one.

“He throws a perfect ball and the randomness of the line of the wide receivers that are lined has wide receiver number 47, who he has never thrown to in his life running a route that is poor. Now Caleb looks bad.”

Furthermore, a handful of star players are uninterested in participating because they are worried that they may underperform on the day.

With all their tapes from college being the foundation that the NFL teams base their draft choices off, do they need to compete?

Therefore, with rookies not participating, it is not a surprise that head coaches, such as McCarthy, are choosing to stay away and continue their work or watch the broadcast.