The 2025 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis was a home game for Toledo safety Maxen Hook.
A ponytailed 23-year-old, Hook was a standout for nearby New Palestine High School while leading the Dragons to two state titles at Lucas Oil Stadium — the same dome where he and several hundred spandex-clad NFL hopefuls found themselves last week.
And just like those state title games, where Hook shined on both sides of the ball, his mother Amy, father Matt, extended family, and some friends were in the crowd to offer their support.
Only this time, Hook wasn’t just playing the game he loved with some lifelong buddies, but rather sprinting, jumping, and lifting alongside relative strangers as countless talent evaluators and a few thousand NFL fans watched on indifferently.
In stark contrast, the atmosphere surrounding Hook’s petrified family was far more tense as he prepared to run his first 40-yard dash. Even when he finished, Amy remained conspicuously silent before quietly wiping a single tear from her eye.
She hadn’t yet heard his official first time, which was later revealed to be 4.59sec, but she knew it wasn’t the 4.4 he registered in 2023.
A second attempt dropped his official combine time to 4.55sec, which was better, but still disappointing for a three-time all-conference selection hoping to move into the top half of next month’s NFL Draft.
Maryland wide receiver Tai Felton does a backflip as wide receiver prospects run to the end zone to celebrate after running drills at the NFL Combine
A nervous Amy Hook (right) watches son Maxen run the 40-yard dash at Lucas Oil Stadium
‘I’m an emotional wreck,’ Amy told the Daily Mail after watching her son in the 40. ‘I’m so proud of him. This is where he’s wanted to be his whole life… He’s always kind of been the underdog. He’s not as fast or as big or as tall or whatever, but he’s super smart and he knows how to read plays.’
The truth about the combine, as Amy Hook knows all too well, is it’s a doomed attempt to quantify a successful football player. Were it truly reliable, Tom Brady wouldn’t have slid to the sixth round as he famously did in the 2000 NFL Draft.
And as the Daily Mail learned by speaking with league insiders, agents, and NFL hopefuls in Indianapolis last week, Amy’s concerns are secretly shared by just about everyone.
The truth is, most of what we’ve come to know about the Combine is either no longer true or had always been fiction.
The 40-yard dash can’t make or break a league hopeful’s future; teams aren’t peppering prospects with painfully awkward questions anymore; and you won’t find an NFL executive pouring their heart out over a high ball at St Elmo Steak House.
Top prospects still show up, but only for team and media interviews, so as not to risk their perceived statuses as the top picks of next month’s NFL Draft in Green Bay.
In their place are hundreds of faceless NFL prospects, all of whom are reduced to measurements usually reserved for prized cattle or purebred dogs.
And in the end, it might not sway the minds of league decision-makers — at least as far as the first few picks are concerned.
Toledo defensive back Hook looks for his time after running the 40-yard dash
Penn State defensive lineman Abdul Carter (right) talks to reporters in Indianapolis
Take Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter, who didn’t work out at the combine amid a reported stress fracture in his foot. As one retired All-Pro and current NFL team employee told Daily Mail, the ferocious defender and athletic marvel remains the biggest prospect in the draft.
What’s more, the source continued, quarterback-hungry fanbases fixating on passers like Miami’s Cam Ward or Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders should be thrilled to have a dynamic talent like Carter instead.
Yes, quarterback remains the game’s most important position, but an elite pass rusher is still very much a draft-day prize.
And unless general managers are overwhelmed with a passer, it’s a mistake to reach for one with the first few picks of the draft — especially with the rookie salary scale reaching $43million for the first overall selection.
Do fans really want three per cent of their team’s cap figure tied up in someone who may struggle to get onto the field next season?
If the combine revealed anything at quarterback, it’s that 2024 — when six quarterbacks went in the first 12 picks — is a long time ago.
Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy admitted in January that ‘it’s certainly not last year,’ as far as quarterbacks go, and that refrain went undisputed among league insiders in Indianapolis.
Background conversations at Lucas Oil Stadium and the Indianapolis Convention Center, not to mention a Friday night bar crawl, yielded more positive commentary about other positions. But scouts are obviously disinclined to share their research, while agents are weary about publicly favoring one new client over another.
Travis Hunter is one of the more intriguing prospects, but was inactive at the combine
Inactive quarterback Shedeur Sanders talks with Jaxson Dart, who did throw in Indianapolis
NFL super-agent Drew Rosenhaus politely declined to speak with the Daily Mail, citing his 10 clients in next month’s draft, although he did say there’s a ‘deep’ talent pool this year.
Other league insiders painted similarly broad strokes: It’s a good draft for running backs and tight ends, although help at other offensive skill positions could be hard to come by.
Despite skipping workouts in Indianapolis, Heisman winner and two-way sensation Travis Hunter is undoubtedly one of the more intriguing prospects to enter the NFL Draft in recent years.
Similarly, receivers such as Missouri’s Luther Burden III and Arizona’s Tetairoa McMillan look like first-year starters, although it’s anyone’s guess where they’ll be picked in the first round.
But if you’re looking for headliners to make an immediate impact like Heisman winner and rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels did for the Washington Commanders in 2024, you should probably keep looking.
This is not 1989, when four of the first five picks ended up in the Hall of Fame, or even 2020, when elite receivers like CeeDee Lamb and Justin Jefferson fell to 17th and 22nd overall, respectively.
Again, the talent pool is deep, but that might not bode well for the first round.
In Indianapolis, players were busy weaving the kinds of backstories you expect to hear at any job interview. NFL hopefuls explained how their specific backgrounds make them perfectly adaptable to whatever the job has in store for them.
Miami quarterback Cam Ward didn’t throw in Indianapolis, but remains a projected high pick
Take Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe, a savvy student with a 3.65 GPA and a strong arm, who has nonetheless been branded as more of an athlete than a true passer.
Milroe didn’t successfully combat that narrative during workouts, where he was inconsistent with his accuracy. But in interviews with team reps, he reinforced his breadth of football experience with the reminder he’s already played for three different offensive coordinators, not to mention a Hall of Fame head coach in Nick Saban.
‘That allows me to be ready for the NFL because I’ve seen so many progressions, so many defenses, being coached by the best coach of all time, Nick Saban, you see so many different defense and are able to have post-snap, pre-snap reads,’ Milroe said Friday.
Then there were the Georgia players, most of who claimed to be a cut above the competition because of the high standards of Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart and his staff in Athens.
‘You’re going to be held to a standard,’ Bulldogs guard Tate Ratledge said of Smart’s program, echoing similar comments made by other Georgia products. ‘No matter who you are or what you do, that standard’s the standard. And if it’s not met, you’re going to be called out for it.’
Some players took an aggressive approach with difficult questions.
Rather than avoiding his history of injuries, Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke embraced the discussion by portraying his knee and hand issues as obstacles he managed to overcome with the Hoosiers.
‘I told teams that if I did that on a torn ACL and a broken thumb, imagine what I can do when I’m fully healthy,’ Rourke told reporters.
Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe combines a high GPA and vast experience, although there are concerns about his accuracy. Some see the standout as more of a project under center
Missouri receiver Luther Burden III participates in a drill at the NFL football scouting combine
One of the more intriguing sales pitches belonged to SMU running back Brashard Smith — a 1,300-yard rusher for the Mustangs in 2024 who previously played receiver for the Miami Hurricanes.
As he explained in Indianapolis, Smith envisions himself as a truly unique combination of the two positions: ‘I feel like no one’s seen it before.’
Never mind that past-NFL greats like Marshall Faulk, Eric Metcalf and Frank Gifford all switched between wideout and running back. Smith’s comment is a savvy sales pitch for a player hoping to keep his options open.
The interviews, both with team personnel and the media, are a good way to remind the public of the prospects’ humanity. These players are not mere data points on a spreadsheet, but young professionals desperately trying to carve out a life doing what they love with the people they care about.
Texas guard Hayden Conner is set to be married to his high school sweetheart next month, and while he’s happy to play anywhere in 2025, he wouldn’t mind staying in state so he and his fiancée can be near family in their native Katy.
‘That would be awesome,’ Conner said.
Georgia running back Trevor Etienne made no secret about his desire to play alongside his brother Travis in Jacksonville: ‘I feel like the Etienne brothers in the same backfield could be crazy together.’
And that is, perhaps, the real value of the Combine. Unlike the ‘Underwear Olympics,’ as the workouts are sometimes derisively known, the interviews offer a chance to add context to a 40-yard dash time or broad jump.
Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke asked teams to imagine what he’s capable of if healthy
Is SMU’s Brashard Smith a running back or receiver? Well according to him, he’s both
Texas offensive lineman Hayden Conner has a busy April with both a wedding and the draft
For many, it’s one last opportunity to show what high school and college coaches, as well as friends, family and teammates, have known for years.
‘I just want to see him get drafted and live his dream,’ Amy Hook told DailyMail.com of her son, Maxen.
‘He’s got it up here,’ the tearful Amy continued, pointing towards her head.
Then she moved her finger to her heart, adding: ‘And he’s got it right here.’
