Posts Tagged ‘40 yard dash’

As with any other sporting event, we are naturally interested in crowning winners and losers for the NFL Combine. These are top level athletes known for their competitive fire and desire to win. There is no doubt that the prospects on the field this week were competing against each other in some form or fashion. For that reason, I think it is interesting to toss my two bits into the arena of opinion and name some winners and losers for this year’s Combine.

Combine Winners

Ndamukong Suh (NFL.com)

Bruce Campbell

Just a dominant overall performance by Campbell.  He looked fantastic in every drill on Saturday.  Did his workout catch the eye of Al Davis and the offensive tackle-hungry Oakland Raiders?

Ndamukong Suh

Talk about nimble…. Suh was like a dancing bear. It was absolutely evident that he was prepared to compete at the Combine.  32 reps on the bench could be a key factor in separating himself from Gerald McCoy who only had 23 reps.

Taylor Mays

NFL scouts in attendance said that Mays’ actual clocked time in the 40 was closer to the 4.24 than his official time of 4.43.  He was nearly as fast as advertised.

Jerry Hughes

Strength still a concern for Hughes, but there will be no questions about his athleticism and ability to transition to 3-4 OLB at the next level after putting on a display in agility during drills.

Eric Berry

Came in bigger and stronger than expected. His drills were very clean, and he ran a fast 4.47  in the 40, coupled with an amazing 43 inch vertical.

Trent Williams

Superb speed (4.88 sec) and fantastic footwork firmly plants Williams within the top 10 of the Draft.  The doubts concerning his height were squashed, too.  He is a solid 6’4” plus change.

Sam Bradford

Bradford has to be on this list, even though he didn’t work out.  He checked out medically, which means he is again a serious contender for the #1 overall pick.

Jahvid Best

Best ran the fastest 40 time of all the running backs (4.35 sec).  That is always a momentum shifter.

Jacoby Ford

Fastest man at the combine (4.28 sec) will catch the eye of evaluators.  Speed causes teams to overlook a multitude of flaws.

Dorin Dickerson

The Pittsburgh prospect was better than Jared Cook last year. Dickerson was the top tight end performer in the 40-yard dash (4.40 sec), broad jump (10’10”) and vertical leap (43 inch). He also posted great marks in the bench press ( 24 reps), 3-cone drill, and 20-yard shuttle.  Teams will be very intrigued by his athleticism.

Devin McCourty

Of all the defensive backs, McCourty looked the smoothest in drills. His strong suit is fluidity in his transition and breaks on the ball.  He made himself some money on Tuesday.

Ryan Matthews

An very good overall, especially for a big running back (6’0,” 218 lbs.) workout might have been enough to push Matthews into the 1st round.  He ran a fast 4.45 in the 40, and was a top performer in the vertical leap, 20-yard shuttle, and bench press.

Combine Losers

Joe Haden (NFL.com)

Joe Haden

His slow 40 time (somewhere around 4.58-4.62) shocked me.  His tape is fantastic, but he has to answer the speed questions to maintain top corner status.

Rolando McClain

Was the pulled hamstring a ploy?  Probably not, but I wanted to see McClain answer questions I have about his speed.

Carlos Dunlap

This was supposed to be his time to shine. But his workout was very average. He looked clumsy when moving laterally, and his straight line speed wasn’t near what was expected.

Dez Bryant

I want to know why he didn’t work out.

Anthony Davis

Concerns about his work ethic were confirmed by his lack of preparation.  Apparently, he looked soft in the middle, and his 23 bench press reps were not impressive for a man of his size.

Donovan Warren

An unofficial 4.58 sec in the 40 isn’t great for a cornerback. Warren wasn’t a top performer in any category.

Brandon Spikes

Another one of those guys who didn’t run for one reason or another.  This raises a red flag regarding his timed speed.  We know he is a great football player, but we wanted to see how good an athlete he is.

Dan LeFevour

No good reason given for not throwing.  Thes4e quarterbacks don’t seem to understand that scouts only want to see their footwork and delivery. Accuracy really doesn’t matter at the combine.

Rich Eisen

Good ol’ Rich…. I thought maybe this would be the year he broke 6.0 in the 40. Guess we will have to wait until next year. Hopefull, he will wear better exercise clothes than a suit next time.

What is it about the gathering of the nation’s best college athletes that makes football fans giddy? Why do all major football magazines, television channels, and websites cover a bunch of football players running around not in pads, but in tights that are a few sizes too small? Is it because we find some satisfaction in objectifying these greatest of human specimens like horses on display at a livestock auction? Well, maybe…I mean, of course not! But seriously…yeah.

What is the combine, if it isn’t one big football meat market?

It really is the greatest spectacle of its kind in sports. No other sport draws so much attention from their standard evaluation process like the NFL combine. None even come close.

But just so you know what I mean, let’s pretend we are on a tour of the Combine (Order may be somewhat jumbled).

First, players are led into a poorly lit room, where they are told to stand at the front of a cold room, at which time they take off their shirts while hundreds of front office personnel evaluate their musculature and overall physique. Are they fat, skinny, well toned?

Second, teams can interrogate players about anything they wish. And I mean ANYTHING. Do you have a girlfriend? Are you married? Have you ever smoked pot? Why haven’t you lost weight? On this particular point, I think it has gone beyond an attempt at being thorough. Every aspect of a player’s life is fair game. Why? Teams want to know how committed a player is to the game. And apparently, having a family or girlfriend has to do with that….

Third, it is time to pull out the tape measure and have a player’s hand size, waist, legs, wingspan, and just about every other body part measured. After this is done, hop on the scales to find out whether the their college team wasn’t dyslexic with the numbers. Whoops!

Forth is the bread and butter portion of the show-the part fans get to see: the workout drills. Each prospect will be allowed to participate in each of the individual workout drills. They include: bench press, 3-cone drill, broad jump, vertical leap, shuttle, and the all-important 40 yard dash. Then position-specific drills will be completed for each offensive and defensive group. Of all the drills, these position drills are the most indicative of the tests given at the combine. Without them, I would have a difficult time differentiating this from a track meet.

What I enjoy about this portion of the combine is seeing gifted athletes do what the average Joe cannot. Not too many of my friends can leap 40 inches vertically while weighing 250 lbs. These big fellas stretch the bounds of what we previously thought was possible. Although the combine has some less than savory aspects to it, I believe this aforementioned reason is why we love the combine, and will continue to enjoy it for years to come.