40 Yard Dash

This coming April, the NFL Draft will be brought to you in all its glory in HD,
on the NFL Network, and in Prime Time. This is a first in the history of the
NFL, where the draft usually takes place early Saturday Morning. However,
in response to the feeding frenzy called the NFL Draft, the NFL has wisely
chosen to capitalize on this phenomenon. On this day, relatively obscure
players can be catapulted from obscurity into the 1st round and into
guaranteed contracts worth tens of millions of dollars. And on this same
day, many elite college players will see their draft stock collapse like a bear
market. Heisman Trophy winners have gone undrafted before. The drama
is very real, and its deadly serious.

One of the reasons why some players are chosen over others is
production. However, all you have to do is ask Eric Crouch or Jason White
how important production at the collegiate level is. Crouch was selected in
the third round as a wide receiver even though he won the Heisman Trophy
as a quarterback. And Jason White was not even drafted even though he
won the Heisman Trophy. You should know that there is a reason why NFL
Teams and scouts don't always do backflips over Heisman Trophy winners.
One name: Andre Ware. After winning the Heisman Trophy, Ware was
snapped up by the Detroit Lions to play quarterback. Unfortunately, for both
parties it did not work out. Ware played so poorly at quarterback, he is
considered one of the biggest draft busts of all time.
One of the main reasons why some players can perform at rarefied levels
in college ball is due to the system of offense or defense in which they play.
At times, these offensive or defensive schemes are so good that you can
plug any number of players into the same position and can expect similar
or better performances. However, in the NFL, not every position is fungible
enough so that you can plug and chug. The NFL is stocked with so much
talent in terms of skill sets, athletic ability, and focus, that it is very difficult to
hide a weak player on any team.

Whereas the college game is predicated upon systems, strategy, and

coaches, the NFL game places an increased value on athletic ability. In
particular, there are some positions which require elite athletic ability to just
be considered for the chance to compete. Positions such as cornerback,
running back, outside linebacker and wide receiver demand as much
athletic excellence as cerebral quickness. In other words, if you put a
cornerback on an island in the NFL who runs a 4.7, that game will quickly
start to resemble an NBA game than a game of football.

Although scouts and coaches can evaluate athletic ability through game
film, they need more precise gauges of athletic measurement. For this
reason, the NFL hosts an annual scouting combine. At these combines,
players are measured by height, hand size, arm size, and are
photographed in their skivvies to get an idea of overall musculature. And
they also undergo a battery of other tests such as the Wonderlic, the
Vertical Leap, the Bench Press, and the Broad Jump. However, there is
one athletic skill that stands supreme to the others: the 40 yard dash.

The 40 yard dash test was first devised by a college coach decades ago.
This college coach used the 40 yards because it was the average distance
of a punt. And the theory was that if a player could get down 40 yards in
under 4.6 seconds he can be in position to tackle the punt returner. Today,
the 40 yard dash is used for virtually all positions. Even punters and kickers
can elect to run the 40. Punter Danny Sepulveda, punter for the Pittsburgh
Steelers was said to have run a 4.4 in the 40.

Of course, not every player is asked to cover punts on special teams.

However, the 40 yard dash can give scouts a general idea of a player's
overall athletic ability. More often than not, if a player is fast in the 40 yard
dash, other related skill sets will tend to be strong as well.
While the 40 yard dash is important, it is not valued or weighted equally
amongst all positions. The 40 yard dash is most important for cornerbacks
because they typically have to cover the most ground of all NFL players
and the players they cover are usually pretty fast too. Generally speaking,
the cornerbacks are usually the fastest players on most teams. The 40 yard
dash is also important for outside linebackers who have to cover running
backs and tight ends. Of course, the 40 yard dash is also given heightened
currency towards running backs and wide receivers.
In contrast, the 40 yard dash is given less importance to kickers, punters,
offensive linemen, and quarterbacks. Although, in the case of offensive
linemen, the 40 yard dash can be important in those offensive schemes
where guards are asked to pull a lot. And in some wildcat offenses,
quarterbacks such as Michael Vick and Pat White are asked to be the 12th
man when it comes to handling the ball.

This article would be remiss if it did not note the limitations of the 40 yard
dash. There is an old saying in the NFL: "Looks like Tarzan, plays like
Jane." In other words, there are many players who can perform well in
those NFL Combine measurables, however look absolutely overmatched
physically and mentally on game day. The history of the NFL is littered with
hundreds of players who ran fast 40 times and wowed scouts with their
athletic potential, only to humiliate those same scouts when they performed
like junior varsity high school players.
To be sure, there are many people who place too much value on the 40
yard dash time. Other factors should also enter into the calculus of
evaluating NFL Draft Prospects. Skill sets and traits such as balance, body
control, kinesthetic intelligence, body frame, IQ, toughness, maturity, and
emotional stability are also extremely important. And it is often those very
traits which determine whether a player sticks or whether he packs. Of
course, the problem with those traits is that there are no rulers or stop
watches by which those traits can be measured and evaluated.