Yahoo Sports

Every year, we need to remind ourselves: The NFL scouting combine matters. No matter how foolish the TV track event — which feels more popular than actual track and field — might seem from a distance, on the ground in Indianapolis is the draft current. You can feel it: Scouts, coaches, execs and agents are cruising around the city, gossiping about the offseason to come. And every year, information we gather in the Circle City, plus what we heard down at the Senior Bowl, is far more reliable and accurate than what leaks out in late March and early April.