Donn Beach wrote: ↑Wed May 10, 2023 1:58 am
D-train wrote: ↑Tue May 09, 2023 11:39 pm
The 40 yard dash time is actually silly for most position players other than WRs and CBs. How many times a season does an RB run 40 yards in one play?
Used to judge speed in general
one could realistically argue that no other event at the combine is given more importance to an individual player's draft stock than the 40-yard dash. Speed is a valuable commodity in the modern game of football, and few tests are better at separating the slow from the fast.
At one time, the 40-yard dash was only important to certain positions. Cornerbacks, wide receivers and running backs have always needed to be faster than the rest, and they therefore originally saw the most pressure to perform well in the event. But slowly, the importance of speed has grown to all positions.
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/153 ... -yard-dash
That explains the what, but not the why. It's kind of stupid, honestly. First of all, a lot of difference is in the get-off speed - a trained track athlete will have faster times simply due to the better start. A more accurate representation of straight line speed for 'skill' players might be to use the time from 5 yards to 40. Instead, they include the split, so 0-10 yards, which is even MORE subject to the issue I mentioned. I guess if they were smart, they'd subtract the split, but I've yet to hear of anybody doing that. Think about a WR - do you care how fast they go the first 10 yards, or how fast they go after they catch the ball (aka a running start)??
I've said before that 40 times for linemen is completely pointless, but yet people go crazy over it.
98% of draft decisions should be based on their body of work - game tape, interviews, criminal records, etc. The only thing the combine should be used for is to maybe identify some lesser known talents like Tariq Woolen, so you can go back and evaluate the important stuff.