SEATTLE — The National Football League (NFL) is in a constant arms race.

Teams looking to build their arsenal each year start at the NFL combine, evaluating the next breakout star. But too much information can flood the system. That's where a partnership between the NFL and Microsoft became a match made in analytics heaven.

"If you think back to how these combines began, imagine just a line of scouts at the finish line of a 40 with stopwatches and pens and paper," said Bryson Gordon, CVP of Global Media & Partnerships. "We ended up partnering with the NFL to essentially digitize all of that, bring all of that data to the combine app, so that every data point for every player at every position is available immediately. What we've done this year is we've actually evolved that combine app to include a copilot as part of it. So with that copilot, all of that data is now available just by asking the app a question."

A question like, "Which defensive linemen had the best 40-yard dash times?"

"You type in the question and you're like, 'there's no way they know this information,' but yeah, it's pretty impressive, it knows," said Mike Macdonald, Seahawks head coach.

With the data obtained by the Copilot app, coaches and GMs can get those 40-yard-dash times in a split second.

"What we heard from the NFL is they wanted a way to be able to quickly assess that, find the insights and really do a deeper level of player assessments much faster," Gordon said.

The Copilot app allows teams to compile data from a workout, a position group, or a singular player, like for instance, Seahawks second round draft pick Nick Emmanwori. With one question, the team can see all of his particular combine results at once, and with a follow-up question, compare him to players in his position group for the past 10 years.

"More data is always better in my mind," Macdonald said. "In Seattle, we talk about chasing edges, trying to find information to help us get a little bit better, have a little bit more of an advantage against our opponents. When you're at the combine as a coach, it's the first time that you're really being introduced to these guys in person, and so to be able to have that information in real time as quick as possible, definitely expedites your first impression on all of these players and it's fun to experiment and see where it goes."