The must-know prospects, newsmakers at NFL Scouting Combine

INDIANAPOLIS — The week-long Super Bowl of the NFL offseason begins Tuesday. 

Putting together general managers, coaches, agents and top prospects at the NFL Scouting Combine always produces trade talks, the framework for free agency and the basis for draft boards. 

Here are 12 expected newsmakers, including team personnel expected to conduct interviews Tuesday and Wednesday and draft prospects scheduled for Wednesday through Saturday: 

Liberty QB Malik Willis 

The boom-or-bust prospect will impress in settings where arm strength is showcased over in-game decision-making. He could force a team to trade ahead of the possibly interested Panthers into the draft’s top five — with the Jaguars, Jets or Giants, all of whom have their starters for 2022 — and maybe prevent this draft from becoming just the second since 2001 without a top-10-drafted quarterback. 

Pittsburgh QB Kenny Pickett 

Time to measure the size of Pickett’s double-jointed hands — he refused at the Senior Bowl — so teams can decide whether they are too small to throw the larger NFL ball, as was a pre-combine concern with recent No. 1 picks Joe Burrow and Baker Mayfield. Pickett is the most pro-ready quarterback on and off the field, after a huge spike in his senior-year production and acing his first round of team interviews. 

Oregon EDGE Kayvon Thibodeaux 

Pass-rushers have been the top pick the last two times it wasn’t a quarterback. Thibodeaux was the favorite for No. 1 until midseason questions about his effort surfaced. Is this a case of overthinking? He had 19 sacks in 30 college games. The combine has draft-board-altering powers for freak athletes, and that’s how Thibodeaux can leapfrog Michigan pass-rusher Aidan Hutchinson. 

Because Alabama’s Evan Neal — the other top-rated blocker — isn’t doing drills at the combine, Ekwonu has a lot to gain or lose. The package of a 6-foot-4, 325-pound pancake-blocking athletic body with a mind that dabbles in the stock market and could’ve attended Harvard or Yale puts him in the conversation to be the No. 1 pick. 

LSU CB Derek Stingley Jr. 

The former can’t-miss prospect won’t work out until LSU’s Pro Day, following two injury-plagued seasons. He will meet with teams here to try to halt his pre-draft slide out of the top 10. Stingley’s background includes that his late grandfather, Darryl, was paralyzed after a big hit in a 1977 NFL preseason game. 

Rams coach Sean McVay 

The Super Bowl winner won’t be in Indianapolis — the Rams don’t have a first-round pick for the sixth straight year — but is scheduled to speak to the media. His decision to spurn a five-year, $100 million contract to leave coaching to broadcast games for Amazon, according to The Post’s Andrew Marchand, will be the talk of the town. It feels like a tipping point where successful teams now have a new threat against maintaining continuity. 

Giants coach Brian Daboll 

The process that led to Daboll’s hiring is under attack in a lawsuit filed by coach Brian Flores alleging racism and “sham” interviews in the NFL. The suit raised three interesting questions for Daboll: When did he find out he was hired relative to Patriots coach Bill Belichick’s mistaken congratulations message? Was he willing to make a lateral move from the Bills to Giants offensive coordinator? Is he bothered that ownership allegedly favored hiring Flores? 

Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy 

How many questions will McCarthy face until he hears the name Sean Payton? The not-retired former Saints coach looms as McCarthy’s possible replacement if the 2022 season starts poorly. For that matter, so do two of McCarthy’s coordinators after neither Dan Quinn nor Kellen Moore were hired elsewhere. This is a hot seat. 

Jaguars coach Doug Pederson 

Pederson is back after one season out of the league. Does he carry any ill will toward the Eagles? He certainly looks better now that the old thorn in his side, Carson Wentz, appears to have worn out his welcome with the Colts after just one season. 

Packers GM Brian Gutekunst 

The biggest decision of the offseason could belong to Gutekunst if MVP Aaron Rodgers asks for a trade. Will he honor that request, as seems to be Rodgers’ understanding? Or will he play hard ball, as suggested recently when he said no such handshake agreement exists? The Packers also have a franchise-tag decision to make on the league’s top free agent, receiver Davante Adams. 

Texans GM Nick Caserio 

A fresh round of questions await about Deshaun Watson’s trade market after the latest court hearing revealed an April 1 deadline for filing criminal charges on sexual misconduct allegations. Plus, how exactly did the Texans settle on promoting Lovie Smith — who wasn’t even on their initial interview list — to coach when it seemed to be a battle between Flores and Josh McCown? 

Seahawks GM John Schneider 

Do the Seahawks view last season’s 7-10 record as a one-off bad year for an annual contender? Or the beginning of a rebuild? The answer to that question should determine Russell Wilson’s fate. Perhaps Wilson’s agent, Mark Rodgers, has an updated list of teams for whom his client would waive a no-trade clause. Might it include swapping in the Giants for last year’s Cowboys and Bears? 

Cardinals GM Steve Keim 

No coincidence that Kyler Murray’s agent Erik Burkhardt released a statement amounting to “trade him or pay him” regarding an extension on the eve of the combine. The ball is in Keim’s court, especially after anonymous members of the organization called Murray “selfish” in a recent ESPN report. Let’s also hear if the love affair between Murray and coach Kliff Kingsbury is as strong as it once was.