4 seconds to Glory?

The NFL never sleeps. It truly is the one sport that is in constant conversation. This week is the annual NFL Scouting Combine, a look at football players vying to be drafted come to show their talent in a myriad of different tests. Although in recent years the Wonderlic Test has been a major topic of conversation, the 40yard dash is still king. No matter your position is, your 40 time will be talked about especially if it is one that impresses.

"Speed Kills", "You Can't Teach Speed", "Speed will Feed" ok I just made that last one up but you can see the public is enamored by speed. It is something we all wish to have and we love to watch (Ask Usain Bolt). However at the same time running a slow 40 can also kill your draft stock (Ask Vontaze Burfict).

So if so much emphasis is put on this 40 time, what are the results? Does the 40 accurately measure how good a player is going to be. The top 10 times in the 40 According to Wiki

4.24	Chris Johnson	5 ft 11 in (180 cm)	197 lb (89 kg)	Running back	2008	#24 overall by Tennessee Titans
4.25	Darrius Heyward-Bey[6]	6 ft 2 in (188 cm)	210 lb (95 kg)	Wide receiver	2009	#7 overall by Oakland Raiders
4.27	Stanford Routt	6 ft 2 in (188 cm)	193 lb (88 kg)	Cornerback	2005	#38 overall by Oakland Raiders
4.27	Marquise Goodwin	5 ft 9 in (175 cm)	170 lb (77 kg)	Wide receiver	2013	Draft Status Pending
4.28	DeMarcus Van Dyke	6 ft 1 in (185 cm)	176 lb (80 kg)	Cornerback	2011	#81 overall by Oakland Raiders
4.28	Champ Bailey	6 ft 0 in (183 cm)	184 lb (83 kg)	Cornerback	1999	#7 overall by Washington Redskins
4.28	Jerome Mathis	5 ft 11 in (180 cm)	181 lb (82 kg)	Wide receiver	2005	#114 overall by Houston Texans
4.28	Carl Vogel	6 ft 0 in (183 cm)	195 lb (88 kg)	Safety	2013	Draft Status Pending
4.28	Jacoby Ford	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)	190 lb (86 kg)	Wide receiver	2010	#108 overall by Oakland Raiders
4.29	Josh Robinson	5 ft 11 in (180 cm)	200 lb (91 kg)	Cornerback	2012	#66 overall by Minnesota Vikings

So What can we take from this:

1. The Oakland Raiders are ALL-IN on speed: They've taken 4 of the top 10 and two of the players aren't eligible to be drafted till this year so 4 out of 6. Out of those 4 the only one to really contribute has been Routt who played 7 seasons and was rewarded with a nice contract before being released. He is now on his 3rd team in the last 2 years. Van Dyke is no longer with the team, Ford missed all of last year and Heyward-Bey has been injury prone in his 4 years.

2. 2 stars. Their are 2 stars on this list: Chris Johnson who's run the fastest combine time and Champ Bailey who has 6th best time. Johnson had a "down" year last year(1200 yds rushing) and is 3 years removed from going over 2,000 yards rushing but he is well above average running back who is capable of breaking one at any point. Champ Bailey continues to defy the age process. He might not be the shutdown corner from his Washington days but any questions about who won the trade with Denver have been answered.

3. 4 seconds can't possibly accurately tell us how well a player will perform at the next level: When you really think about it, this is whole thing is flash with no substance. To base an evaluation of a player and invest in them based on running for 4 seconds in  a controlled environment with no pads or helmet is really stupid. I'm not saying a teams decision is based on a 40 but the coverage and emphasis put on it doesn't make sense. Look at the list above we can give maybe a 25-30% success rate to speedesters in the NFL.

That being said, speed is here to stay as a measuring stick for future draft hopefuls. I will definitely try to train my kids to be as fast as possible, after all "Speed Kills", "You Can't Teach Speed" and Speed Feeds.