Inside The Combine: ITL Scouting Awards & Latest Buzz From Indy

All Access Football is on location at the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine with the latest news from downtown Indianapolis.

Feb 27, 2026

Inside The Combine Presented By Sport Management Worldwide. The SMWW Football Career Conference was the largest one yet in the 29-year history of the event. Check out highlights from the event below with featured guest speaker, New York Giants Senior Vice President of Football Operations and Strategy Dawn Aponte. Choose from over 80 online sports courses available at SMWWW.com.

INSIDE THE COMBINE: D-LINE KICKS OFF WEEK IN INDY

The defensive linemen were the first group to get underway for the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine. We have instant reaction, analysis and top standout performers with various media appearances. Catch up with the latest buzz and perspective!

INSIDE THE LEAGUE SCOUTING AWARD WINNERS

The 17th Annual 2026 Ellison Kibler at Merrill Lynch Inside The League Combine Seminar was our largest crowd yet, as we highlighted dozens of award winners to individuals who have had a positive impact on the great game of football.

If you were in attendance at Room 205 at the Indiana Convention Center, chances are you left with more contacts then when you arrived, as hundreds of NFL executives, scouts, agents and industry professionals from the football community gathered for the hour-long session. We thank you for attending and hope to see you for next year’s event. Now onto the ceremonies (as voted on by NFL teams) …

Nominees for the ‘Inside The League 2025 Best NFL Draft Award’ included the Carolina Panthers, Chicago Bears, Cleveland Browns, New England Patriots and New York Giants. However, when the final votes were all tallied, the winner of the award was the New Orleans Saints.

It was a highly impactful rookie crop for New Orleans, as they landed a potential quarterback of the future in Tyler Shough, a franchise left tackle in Kelvin Banks, along with multiple other starters and key contributors amongst their nine selections. It was the second time that the Saints have been honored with this award, previously winning it in 2017.

“To be honest with you, the process has really not changed since I’ve been here,” Saints assistant general manager and college scouting director Jeff Ireland told the Times Picayune. “We’ve used the same process that we’ve used. I think the addition to the (then-new coaching) staff and their energy and their enthusiasm in the process helped, for sure. They gave us great vision for what they were looking for, and that’s important. We went after high makeup, high character, highly intelligent players that had production in college.”

The winner of the 2026 C.O. Brocato Lifetime Service To NFL Scouting Memorial Award was Las Vegas Raiders senior national scout Andy Dengler. With over 30 years of scouting experience, Dengler began with National Football Scouting (1995-98) and would later go on to serve in the Jacksonville Jaguars front office in many capacities for 23 years (1998-2021), before joining the Raiders in 2022. The Circleville, Ohio native joins a prestigious list of prior honorees, which includes Chuck Cook (Commanders) in 2025, Scott DiStefano (Broncos) in 2024, Jeremiah Davis (Giants) in 2023, Mark Gorscak (Steelers) in 2022, Alonzo Highsmith (Patriots) in 2021 and Jeff Shiver (Bears) in 2020.

One of the longest running ITL Awards is the ‘BART List,’ named in honor of former Rams scout Danton Barto. This year, the winners were broken down into three categories: Top NFL Road Scouts, Next Wave NFL Scouts and Top NFL Executives. The scouting community is full of unsung heroes, working rigorously behind the scenes on the never-ending mission of finding talent. The 2026 ‘BART List’ Awards are as follows:

BART LIST AWARD (Top NFL Road Scouts): Brian Fisher, Bills; Marcus Cooper, Giants; Ryan Florence, Seahawks; Dom Green, Jets; Chris Nolan, Jets; Steve Rubio, 49ers; Chas Stallard, Ravens; Dan Zegers, Packers

BART LIST AWARD (Next Wave NFL Scouts): Blaise Bell, Giants; Tom Bradway, Bears; Hayden Frey, 49ers; Jack Green, Seahawks

BART LIST AWARD (Top NFL Executives): Tokunbo Abanikanda, Falcons; Tariq Ahmad, 49ers; Matt Berry, Seahawks; Justin Chabot, 49ers; Bryan Chesin, Broncos; Ed Dodds, Colts; Alonzo Highsmith, Patriots; Anthony Patch, Raiders; Jon-Eric Sullivan, Dolphins; Matt Terpening, Colts

Several individual NFL scouting awards were also handed out, including ‘Best NFL Scout On A School Visit,’ which went to Brian Fisher of the Bills, ‘Best NFL Scout Gathering Character,’ which was presented to Brian McLaughlin of the Buccaneers and ‘Best NFL Scout Running A Pro Day,’ won by Sae Woon Jo of the Broncos.

A handful of NFL teams were also selected for awards, including the ‘Best NFL Pro Department,’ which went to the Los Angeles Rams, Indianapolis Colts and Seattle Seahawks, in addition to the ‘Best NFL Analytics Department,’ which included the Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys.

Inside The League continues to expand the combine awards, which now extends into the collegiate level. Winners were divided into ‘Power Four’ and ‘Group of Five’ categories for the ‘Best NCAA Best Strength Coach’ and ‘Best NCAA Pro Liason’ awards. The winner of the ‘2026 NCAA Best Power Four Strength Coach’ was Tommy Moffitt of Texas A&M, while Brad Bichey of Toledo took home the ‘2026 NCAA Group of Five Strength Coach’ honors. For the ‘2026 NCAA Best Power Four Pro Liason,’ that award went to AJ Wessel of Cincinnati, while Blake Moore of Memphis was presented with the ‘2026 NCAA Best Group of Five Pro Liason.’ One other NCAA award included the ‘Most Improved Visit,’ which went to the USC Trojans.

It has been an honor and a privilege to provide a platform to salute some of the best professionals from the scouting community. Inside The League would like to thank everyone who was involved with the production!

ALL ACCESS FOOTBALL 2026 NFL DRAFT HEADQUARTERS — CLICK HERE

INSTANT REACTION: COMBINE ANALYSIS, IMPACT & STARS

From medical evaluations and team interviews to rising buzz around top defensive prospects, the NFL Combine continues to shape how teams approach this year’s draft. With quarterbacks beyond the top tier still developing and players like David Bailey, Lee Hunter and Caleb Downs gaining momentum, front offices are gathering the information that could define their first round strategy.

COMBINE CONFIDENTIAL: OFFSEASON QB CAROUSEL TALK OF THE TOWN IN INDY

More Combine Chatter! Click here for the Sports Bash with Mike Gill on ESPN Radio for a look at players on the rise, plus potential draft targets for the Philadelphia Eagles (segment begins during final half hour of the broadcast).

NFL SCOUTING COMBINE NEWS & NOTES

[EDITOR’S NOTE]: The news items below were originally produced for Inside The League Friday Wrap Newsletter. Register here to receive your free weekly report.

NFL Evaluators Debate ‘Best’ Prospect. A trio of FOX insiders polled a group of NFL executives to find out who the league thinks is the best player in the 2026 NFL Draft. Upon reviewing the survey results, even top decision-makers are uncertain on who the premier player is in this year’s class might be, as the top of the draft remains wide open. One clear consensus that emerged from the poll is that Fernando Mendoza of Indiana is the top-rated quarterback amongst league evealuators. “Everyone is going to have their own definition of ‘best’ this year,” one NFC scout said. “It’s hard to go against a quarterback, but if we’re being honest, [Mendoza] probably isn’t the best player or prospect. He’ll have the biggest impact, sure, because of his position. But other players are better.” However, opinions vary, with one assistant general manager placing Mendoza atop the class. “If you need a quarterback, he’s the best player, no discussion,” he declared. “He’ll have the biggest impact and plays the position where the good ones are hardest to find. I wouldn’t compare him to any other position. Those guys are always in a class of their own.” Notre Dame running back Jerremiyah Love is another name frequently mentioned. Despite the surge in running the ball more frequently in recent seasons, NFL front office personnel still remain hesitant investing a top overall pick on the position. “I wouldn’t take him No. 1 because the supply of running backs far outweighs the demand,” one front office executive stated. “But he has the most high-level traits for his position than anyone else in the draft.” Other candidates mentioned are also featured at ‘devalued’ positions, which could create a conundrum for teams selecting in the top five. “Arguably, some of the best players in this draft are maybe at non-premium positions,” said Chiefs general manager Brett Veach. “When you look at the Ohio State linebacker [Sonny Styles], the Notre Dame running back [Love], the safety from Ohio State [Caleb Downs], those are really, really good players.” The article also discusses draft philosophy. “Every team has their own philosophy,” Ravens GM Eric DeCosta told reporters at the combine. “So, you could interview every general manager here, and they would probably have a different belief and need versus BPA, or ‘best player available.’ I learned under Ozzie Newsome and we’ve always been a best-player-available team. That’s important to me. That’s in my DNA. It is something I believe in.”

Bengals Expand Front Office. Notoriously known for having an ‘undersized’ front office, the CIncinnati Bengals have expanded their personnel department for 2026 under de facto general manager Duke Tobin. Three new members have joined the organization in scouts Josh Hinch and Tyler Ramsey, plus new scouting research analyst Trey LaBounty. All three individuals have had prior NFL experience, as Hinch previously worked with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New England Patriots, while Ramsey had experience with the Carolina Panthers and Seattle Seahawks. LaBounty was previously an analytics intern with the Buffalo Bills. A larger staff means more voices in the room, something that Tobin acknowledges and also evaluates. “Every organization comes down to very few voices,” he said. “They get input but it’s going to be one, two, three, four voices that are really driving it. I trust the guys that we’ve got. You have to evaluate the evaluators and I’ve done that and I like the fact that I know our evaluators and I know how they look at players and how they grade and I know what their grades mean.” Injecting fresh voices into the war room has also resulted in tweaking their scouting philosophy. “We’ve got a pretty complex and robust scouting system now that we have built from the ground up over time and they’ve elevated it to another level that gives us all the resources we want when our scout is looking at the guy, needs the comparisons, needs the background on the guy, needs everything to evaluate the guy correctly,” Tobin added. “I’ve been very pleased with the new additions that we’ve had.” In a sign of the times, the rise of technology and analytics has forced NFL teams to think differently about how they assemble their front offices. Cincinnati is just the latest organization to adapt and adjust.

Mum’s The Word In Minnesota. This week’s NFL Combine serves as a different dynamic for the Minnesota Vikings than what they’re usually accustomed to. The organizton has taken an unorthodox approach in replacing fired general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, who was fired in January. In the meantime, Rob Brzezinski, who brings 33 years of NFL experience, has been dubbed the interim general manager to lead the organization through the NFL Draft process. In Indianpolis, Brzezinski was asked on multiple occasions if he desired the role in a full-time capacity. Spoken like a true diplomat, he made sure not to make any waves during his carefully crafted response. “I am just focused right now on the next two months or whatever’s ahead of us into the draft,” Brzezinski stated. “It’s an awesome responsibility. I’ve been here a long time. I know what this franchise means to our fans and just want to be a small part of one day delivering that championship. And so whatever steps we can take in the next couple of months, we’re going to do that to make that happen. And that’s what I’m focused on right now.” Vikings owner Mark Wilf has stated that the search for permanent GM will begin following the 2026 NFL Draft and the first agenda is expected to assess whether anyone currently inside the facility is able to handle the job at task. He has also made it clear that he prefers a front office configuration which allows “extremely heavy input” from the head coach, something that began to shift early on during the Adofo-Mensah era. Both head coach Kevin O’Connell (photo courtesy: NFL) and defensive coordinator Brian Flores have had significant influence inside the war room in past drafts. When asked if would like more power in decision-making under the soon-to-be announced regime, O’Connoll also kept it coy stating, “I want ultimately what’s best for the organization under the direction of our ownership.” The decision looms large for the franchise, as Wilf seeks to create long-term continuity. Upon purchasing the team in 2005, he kept previous general manager Rick Spielman on the job for 16 seasons (from 2006-2021). Ironically, Brzezinski was the VP of Operation prior to Wilf and Spielman joining the organization, which is experience that should not be discounted. In fact, Brzezinski would appear to know this team better than anyone, placing him as one of the favorites to land the permanent position. For more perspective on the situation, click here.

Combine Crossover. Back in 2010, then-Alabama defensive backKareem Jacksonattended the NFL Scouting Combine as a top-rated safety. This week, he returned to Indianapolis, trading in his t-shirt and shorts, for a notebook. The former first round pic know serves as a southwest regional scout for the Denver Broncos, an organizaton he spent five seasons with during his 15-year playing career. The move comes after Jackson spent last spring working under Broncos general managerGeorge Patonin an undefined role. A positive impression lead to Jackson landing a full-time role. Drafted by the Houston Texans, Jackson also played for the Buffalo Bills, dueling as a cornerback and safety, after a highly successful collegiate career, which included a BCS National Championship in 2009. With vast experience playing in the league, Jackson now seeks to hone his craft along the scouting trails, a path that many NFL players attempt to pursue following their playing days.

ICYMI: AAF 2026 NFL Scouting Combine Primer Draft Watch Show.