Don't you think it's funny..

[Guest RockyMtnSooner]

that so many high school recruits are listed as 4.4 - 40 guys when the NFL combines only had 20 or so total guys that ran under 4.5? I think these bogus numbers cause some HS athletes to go to schools they don't deserve to go to. Just like the number of tackles listed for big time HS players. I played with a guy in HS that had offers from OU and OSU and went to Tulsa that got credited with the tackle every time he was near the end of the play. I guess that's why you have to have a lot of guys that can judge talent on your staff, but it's still unfair and very costly for coaches to go look at a kid that couldn't play NAIA football just because his numbers were exagerated. Just My Opinion.

[HuskerBob]

so true. HS coaches are so biased b/c they just want themselves and their school to look gud with the pub from a D1 croot. those handheld 40 times are a loada crap. I would venture to guess that the fastest guy in college fball doesnt top 4.4 or higher. the fastest guy on my football team in hschool was timed at a 4.69 electronic 40 which was legit, and trust me he was SMOKING fast. i know its relative but he cud run past almost anyone and placed 2nd at the state of illinois 100 M. my point. i agree with rms.

[AR Husker Fan]

Everyone gets wrapped up in numbers - the reason being that they form an "objective" basis for comparison. But, as noted, the objectivity is lost when the numbers are fudged.

 

Seems to me that the best teams look for kids who actually produce. I seem to recall at one time Jimmy Johnson staying that the Cowboys would ultimately make determinations on college athletes who made plays. While they wouldn't draft 4'9" guys who ran a 7.5 40, they still looked primarily at what they did - live or on film.

 

Look at the old Pittsburg Steelers - they built their dynasty on players that almost no one deemed "good enough".

[Guest RockyMtnSooner]

I agree, AR, but your examples are from the pros where the college players have more definite 40 times and bench #'s (from the combine and pro days). In college, you have a kid from Podunk, Oklahoma who's been given 185 tackles and a 4.5 40 time, so you send a recruiter on a trip to visit with him. I know there's no way to stop it from happening, it even happens in college.

This is funny and shows the pokes mentallity at OSU. Instead of truely evaluating and giving correct times for their players, OSU released these numbers for their players:

This is the fastest football squad in Oklahoma State history as forty times in the testing that ws wrapped up with Pro Timing Day on Thursday yielded times of 4.50 or better by 18 different players. Some of the best times included cornerback Darrent Williams with a 4.28, safety Vernon Grant with a 4.32, cornerback Grant Jones with a 4.38, cornerback Andrew Alexander with a 4.30, tilback Seymore Shaw with a 4.42, wide receiver Tommy Devereaux with a 4.32, wide receiver Chijuan Mack with a 4.35, and cornerback Daniel McLemore with a 4.12.

I mean, COME ON! They haven't had a top 25 recruiting class but once in the last 5 years. Did these guys just get on campus and start flying.

[Eric the Red]

I want to say I just read something where the fastest guy at NU ran around a 4.46 which was Green and then Amos at 4.48 or something like that. The reason these times are so inflated is there probably hand held times instead of electronic. Electronic times, you start off in a three point stance with your finger on the ground holding down a button. When you get ready to go you let go of the button and away you go.

 

When guys run this fast 4.48 and so on and they are electronic they are flying.

 

Literally take a stop watch and a buddy and run a forty. If you were "fast" and "athletic" in high school and its been a few years, you won't break 5.0. More likely 5.5 or higher. You'll appreciate how fast some of these guys are after you do this.

[Blackshirt]

I hear that. One time I ran a 40 in Iowa City after a long night of mass consumption and fell down and cracked my wrist open. One of my finer moments most definitely. I think I hit the ground in about 2.5 flat or 6.5 stumbles. Thats pretty good isnt it? It was handheld tho so I guess everythings out the window... dammit!

[N-U]

I am not a big fan of the 40 times. I feel that though it can be used at times for speed and other things...it gets over-blown by many people.