In February, the value of an NFL Combine invite was at an all-time high, the players just didn’t know it yet.
Two weeks after the scouting event, strict social distancing guidelines were put in place all across the country due to COVID-19, and many prospects were left without individual workouts with NFL teams and pro days hosted by their respective schools.
The only chance NFL scouts had to see them in person during the offseason was at the combine. If a player wasn’t invited or was unable to participate, they were out of luck.
This included several Notre Dame players who underperformed at the NFL Combine, were unable to participate due to injuries or did not receive one of those coveted invites.
Former Notre Dame linebacker Asmar Bilal fell into the latter category and, somewhat surprisingly, did not receive an NFL Combine invite.
According to The Indianapolis Star’s Joel A. Erickson, Bilal’s agent Justin Faires immediately began contacting NFL teams when Notre Dame’s actual pro day, scheduled for April 1, was canceled in mid-March. The feedback he received is that NFL executives were willing to watch virtual pro days, so he and Bilal proceed to put one together.
He ran a 4.52-second 40-yard dash and the 20-yard shuttle in 4.18 seconds. Both times would have ranked in the top six among linebackers at the NFL Combine.
Of course, these times are unofficial, so it may have been hard for NFL teams to put much stock in them. Bilal still went undrafted, signing as a priority free agent with the Los Angeles Chargers.
It may have also hurt the validity of the virtual pro days when fellow Notre Dame alum Jalen Elliott posted an unofficial 4.54 at his virtual pro day after running a verified 4.8 at the NFL Combine the month before.
That is not to say both times weren’t valid or accurate, but such a discrepancy could make it challenging to trust virtual pro days, where the prospects had an inordinate (at least compared to previous years) amount of control over the production and distribution of the video.
Like Bilal, Elliott went undrafted. He was signed by Detroit Lions as a priority free agent.
