Put it in the bank: Mohamed Sanu

[chuck]

Originally Posted by WMH

What's the benefit of them running in shorts and T-shirts for 40 yards in a straight line? IMO, not much, yet these kids are absolutely scrutinzed for the difference between a 4.49 and a 4.50 forty.

Some of the other drills make perfect sense, but I've never understood the whole 40 thing. Do we need to know how fast he is....absolutely. Can you tell me the difference between a "4.4" and a "4.5" guy? Doubtful. And when will they run in a straight line for 40 yards?

But, that's the way its always been......

Just an amusing observation to me.

I think that websites, ESPN, fantasy players and armchair GMs get worked up over stats that you and I agree are not terribly meaningful in an isolated context. I suspect that most teams care less about whether a guy is 4.44 or 4.49 and more about some of the more esoteric measurements or, more probably, certain combinations of measurements. I'm thinking specifically of the Texans and Ben Tate. The Texans liked him in part because of some combination of measurements - I believe he was the fastest back per pound, something like that.

[barrett]

Guys come from well over 100+ schools every year just in D1 alone. They play wildly different schedules and competition levels. They also have unknown practice habits and attitudes that NFL teams can only guess at.

The combine puts them all on an even playing field for comparison's sake. Every team probably weighs it differently, but it is a useful tool to be able to tell if a guy is actually fast or just looked fast playing against Memphis or some other terrible team.

But to me the biggest thing the combine shows is professionalism. They are performing for future pay, just like they do in the NFL, and you get to see if they know how to train, prepare, and perform (in a basically non-football setting). If a guy is out of shape and unprepared at the combine he probably lacks the professionalism to be in-shape, prepared, and healthy in the NFL environment.

[HPF Bob]

Good points. I think the Combine is a good place to see everyone on somewhat equal footing but I also suspect teams have become so sophisticated at this that they try not to give away who they are really interested in so you never are sure who's being sincere and who's not - sort of like speed dating.