40 yr dash is meaningless and waste of time

CalPolyTechnique

CalPolyTechnique

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Every year we get these threads.

Treating any single test metric as the definitive measure of a prospect’s worth is silly.

NFL teams don’t do that.

The 40-yard dash is no different than the 3-cone, broad jump, et cetera. It’s simply intended to help paint a comprehensive picture of a prospect’s athletic ability.
 
CouchCoach

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Having football players do anything not in full pads is nothing but entertainment. The Combine is the NFL's mini Olympics and meant to create excitement, talk about the NFL when there is no NFL and make more money. It is worthless for selecting football players but they all go along with it as if they haven't watched film of the players of interest, which has been done since film came into being. They watch football players play football.

Some of today's player personnel people need the measurables for comparison purposes because they can't recognize a football player. And flat out speed is a good tie-breaker for WR's and CB's but the problem is CB's don't run flat out, they back peddle, move laterally and make turns and most WR's can't go full sprint, locate and make a play on the ball.

If they want true comparisons, time them making football plays because the only time they go full out sprint is running away or chasing someone. And with all that talk about speed, they still have to make a play on the ball, the real objective.

When Bob Hayes became a star and brought about the zone D, other teams began trying to convert sprinters and it didn't work because it is a different skill set and Bullet was a football player with sprinter speed. He was a very good one at Florida A&M and knew how to control his speed to make the play. The converted sprinters struggled just keeping their eyeballs from bouncing so they could locate the ball and get into position to make a play. What they had to do was slow down so what's the benefit of the speed?

I just don't know how all the GM's, HC's and player personnel guys picked football players before the Combine. Not ragging on the Combine, it is what it is but it has little to do with playing the game of football.
 
Rockport

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CouchCoach said:
Having football players do anything not in full pads is nothing but entertainment. The Combine is the NFL's mini Olympics and meant to create excitement, talk about the NFL when there is no NFL and make more money. It is worthless for selecting football players but they all go along with it as if they haven't watched film of the players of interest, which has been done since film came into being. They watch football players play football.

Some of today's player personnel people need the measurables for comparison purposes because they can't recognize a football player. And flat out speed is a good tie-breaker for WR's and CB's but the problem is CB's don't run flat out, they back peddle, move laterally and make turns and most WR's can't go full sprint, locate and make a play on the ball.

If they want true comparisons, time them making football plays because the only time they go full out sprint is running away or chasing someone. And with all that talk about speed, they still have to make a play on the ball, the real objective.

When Bob Hayes became a star and brought about the zone D, other teams began trying to convert sprinters and it didn't work because it is a different skill set and Bullet was a football player with sprinter speed. He was a very good one at Florida A&M and knew how to control his speed to make the play. The converted sprinters struggled just keeping their eyeballs from bouncing so they could locate the ball and get into position to make a play. What they had to do was slow down so what's the benefit of the speed?

I just don't know how all the GM's, HC's and player personnel guys picked football players before the Combine. Not ragging on the Combine, it is what it is but it has little to do with playing the game of football.
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I guess you stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night :lmao:
 
G2

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Oh wait, I thought you guys were talking about 40 0z. My bad.
 
JoeyBoy718

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Well, thanks for this thread. Jerry must've read it. We just brought back Witten.

Let's start a clapping is meaningless thread while we're at it.
 
Montanalo

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The argument against 40 yard times takes on more meaning with Witten returning
 

kskboys

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blueblood70 said:
speed kills but only if you can also run routes and catch plus take hits..if it were only speed wed be going after track stars..

football is different , its a rarity to find speed with a the ability to run perfect routes and be deceptive in and out of cuts plus catch the football and take the big hit..they use these drills for the fringe guys, projects etc because they already know what the blue chippers can do as they have tape from college where they got all the snaps..the low depth chart and small school guys need the combine and all the 40s and drills to give teams better look..
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Lateral agility, short area quickness, and burst are more important than speed.
 
BigCatMonaco

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Valkyr said:
This is the time of the year where you get to hear, "well Jerry Rice ran a 4.7!", as if we're supposed to make judgements about potential based on outliers.
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The stick-um, two separate hall of fame QBs and a 3rd who was league MVP, and literally being the hardest working player in football probably his entire career helped.
 
cern

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Former cowboy wr alexander Wright was the NFL's fastest man in 92 and 93. He was timed at 4.14 (not at combine). But he was too afraid to run over the middle.
 
Blackspider214

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I think it's a helpful tool to use for certain positions. As in WR and RB. Defensive backs as well. Other than that, not so much for any other position. As no other position you are really going to be utilizing that kind of speed.

But the Raiders were kings of drafting guys solely based on speed and 40 times and it never worked out for them.
 
JBell

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The 40 is most important for CB's.

Yes there are outliers like Richard Sherman (who compensates for his lack of speed with elite traits in other areas), but CB's actually DO run 40 yards or close to it defending certain patterns. Most obvious one is vs. a go route. If a CB runs a 4.6/4.7, he's not going to be able to be left on an island, ever. Unless he's a physical, lanky savant like Sherman.

Teez Tabor was a stud at Florida, but dropped to the 2nd round in 2017 because of a poor forty (4.75 at his pro day). Dude's already a bust. Couldn't even see the field for one of the league's worst defenses (DET).
 
Quickdraw

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The 40 year dash?

I don't think the 40 "yd" dash is a waste of time as it shows speed.
 
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