AWS Powers NFL's New Combine IQ

The NFL has launched a new interactive Combine dashboard called Next Gen Stats Combine IQ system, powered by AWS and Amazon QuickSight, which represents a significant advancement in athletic performance data analysis. The system processes player movement data collected every tenth of a second during drills through sensors worn by players, generating hundreds of thousands of data points. The Draft Score feature incorporates real-time performance data, historical comparisons, and position-specific benchmarks to provide player ratings ranging from 50 to 99.

The new system represents a massive increase in data complexity compared to previous years, processing more than ten times the amount of measurable data points than before 2022. The dashboard, built by researchers for researchers using QuickSight, allows for near real-time processing and visualization of complex data streams from multiple simultaneous events at the Combine. It features sophisticated data cleaning and validation pipelines to handle the chaos of multiple players performing simultaneously on the field.

The system also integrates advanced machine learning models that predict player success probabilities based on composite measures combining various athletic traits. These models analyze the interactions between different attributes to predict three key outcomes: the likelihood of becoming a starter in their rookie season, the probability of becoming a starter within their first three seasons, and the chances of making the Pro Bowl in those first three years. The dashboard presents this information through a hybrid experience that combines data visualizations with narrative context, making complex data analysis accessible to both casual fans and professional scouts.