MOBILE, Ala. – The Panthers’ technical team has two hours a day to train at the Senior Bowl, and they have two more hours of meetings a day with the American team.
There are some other chances to meet some of the college stars gathered in Alabama this week, but Coach Matt Rhule is using every second he can to assess.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic is still affecting every facet of the scouting process, limiting face-to-face time with potential customers, Rhule said that even casual encounters would be archived.
“There was a player last year, and I will not say who, but it was to be very well chosen,” said Rhule on Tuesday. “And I got on the elevator with him at Combine, and I was like, at the end of that elevator ride, I was like, ‘There’s no way that guy can fit in with us.'”
These short interactions will be key this year, when each team will have less personal contact with college players than ever before. With Scouting Combine replaced by training on professional days, opportunities for conversation will be limited.
This affects all teams, making the Panthers’ brief window on this group more valuable.
“This would be a year where everyone in the NFL knows less about players than any other year,” said Rhule.
Sure, if a guy is good at football it remains the most important part of the assessment, but Rhule said that meeting this group of players was an “invaluable” part of the process.
“We think we know these guys and our scouts do a great job,” said Rhule. “But this is only information from a third party. This is a chance for players to speak for themselves and say, ‘This is who I am. This is my composition ‘. Training them, being in meetings, just being in the elevator with them, gives the guys an idea.
“We try to find out who is tough, hard-working and competitive, who is smart, who loves the game. And who is a good person. We spend six months a year together, so we want to be close to people we like and fit us.”