If you’re wondering how so many of those kids at Georgia’s spring combine were able to turn in 40-yard dash times that would make Usain Bolt jealous, take a look at Tim Tucker’s description of how the staff measures dash times:
A measure of linear speed. The players will sprint 40 yards as fast as they can. They are timed from their initial movement through the finish line. Each player is timed by four different coaches. Each player gets two attempts, with their best time recorded. [Emphasis added.]
In other words, a player starts and then a stopwatch is clicked. In Bolt’s world, the runners wait for a signal and both they and the clock start from that. How much of a difference in time results from that?
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I would say that is how UF posted amazing 40 times for their players , but alas, when they arrived at the NFL combine they were ALL slower.. I suspect we may see the same for our speedsters! Oh well, sort of like the 3 cone drills times dropping at the NFL combines because many Colleges use smaller cones! At least our numbers compare to UF now!!
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Well, at the NFL combine they are allowed a restart if they don’t get off the line right. So, I’m sure there’s a difference, but given that other college staffs are timing their players the same way, relatively speaking, I’d say our guys are on par with all those Florida players who allegedly run 4.1 40’s.
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Assume for the moment that the timing is inaccurate, but uniformly inaccurate. A 6’5″ 265 lb. man beast is the second fastest guy on the team. That’s incredible. No I don’t think he runs a 4.29 but he’s gotta be at around 4.4 and at his size, man I hope he gets some clean shots on some qbs this fall. I thought Marcus Howard was a freak when he ran 4.38 at the combine, but Washington is a much bigger player.
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Just as a point of interest, this is how 40 times are measured in Arena football for their combines and tryouts. I don’t have any experience with the NFL, but I wasn’t surprised to see that Georgia is using the same method of measurement.
Also, I personally hated this way of measuring the time. If I drop my arm at the line before I’m ready to start, technically I started. It always threw me off.
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Accurate or not, I still contend that when fall camp opens the dawgs will have more SEC caliber football players/ athletes on campus than at any other time since the NCAA went to the 85 scholly limits. Class of 2011 will continue or increase that.
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Having watched the NFL combine for the last 3 or 4 years that is exactly how the NFL times the 40, on first movement. They have an assistant coach at the start that can blow a whistle and stop the runner if he rocks forward or moves his arms as the timer starts. The difference is that the timer is electrically triggered and the finish is an electric eye. The guys you see with stop watches at the finish are the unofficial timers. The official time is electronic and can vary from the stop watch times and usually does.
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Rivals, Scout, ESPN, and others have all shown to be about as reliable as BP on getting correct times
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Ealey does not show up anywhere. Did he not participate ? Wonder how competive his results would have been ? I expect him to be the Big Dawg in 2010. Hope I am right.
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I think, when asking the question how much of a difference this makes vs. track sprinting events, the difference is quite large (relatively speaking). You are talking about the slowest part of the entire race (starting) and adding reaction time on the part of the participant. Additionally, I’m sure there is some degree of negative impact on the fact that the sprinter’s body is in a state of not knowing exactly when it’s starting, whereas the 40 time participant determines the start, so he can gear himself mentally and just explode out when he is ready.
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