The Puppy Bowl is getting closer to the NFL than ever before ... they both have big games Sunday, and now the pups are going through a Scouting Combine too.

Dan Schachner -- the 14-year Puppy Bowl "Rufferee" -- joined us on "TMZ Live" and told us about the big new thing this year for Puppy Bowl XXI.

The Puppy Bowl Kickoff special now features the Puppy Combine, showcasing 10 little pooches showing off their football skills in a series of super cute challenges.

Dan says the Combine leads into the draft ... just like they do in the NFL.

In years past, he says they drafted Puppy Bowl teams in simple terms ... photos of dogs next to Coca-Cola cans for scale. 😆

Puppy Bowl XXI is the biggest ever ... with 142 rescue dogs from 40 animal shelters across 40 states and two countries competing for the Lombarky Trophy. The lone foreign puppy, Tuani, traveled all the way from Nicaragua. The best part -- the Puppy Bowl has a 100% adoption rate.

Dan even brought a few of this year's cute competitors to the TMZ office ... Rylee, Ruth, Raya, Rosalie and Ria from Angel City Pit Bulls, a rescue org doing great work with all the animals displaced by the Los Angeles wildfires.

Puppy Bowl XXI and the Puppy Combine air February 9 on Animal Planet, Discovery Channel, TBS, truTV, Max and Discovery+.