Anyone else think this track has a lot to do with these times?
IDK… it is the same surface used for the previous 15 years.
Will be ripped out in March and replaced with different type of turf.
Well… the new turf will go in after they build a huge swimming pool in the dome…
40 times in spandex and track cleats are so overrated. There I said it. 
Football aint played on a track or in track cleats.
I’ll concede for some positions they matter more than others… But the hype around 40 times is wild.
Just like arm length and penis size. Haha you know they are gonna measure that soon. The prospects are almost naked.
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How are you going to find out how well a guy can penetrate, if you don’t see his junk? 
Its the carbon fiber plates in the shoes. Started appearing 6-7 years ago. When 4.3’s also started appearing. Now everyone has them. Its pretty much proven technology.
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Lmao well played. Okay start with Dline only and make it gradual.
So explain the thought process of Xavier Worhy: blasts record 4.22 forty and then calls it a wrap. Doesn’t go through any catching drills even though the knock on him is his amount of drops.
I guess everything is done at the schools now.
Most guys will do whatever the agent tells them to do… and based off the money and insane contracts they get hard to blame them.
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If this is the case (I’m not watching), then I’d argue Worthy is handling the combine the right way. He’s doing the pointless stuff that’ll boost his stock, and he’s not doing the pointless stuff that might lower his stock.
There’s a LOT of film on him catching/dropping a ball. Whether or not he runs in a lateral line and catches a ball or two has nothing to do with how good he is as a football player. He’s never going to do anything like that in a football game, so why should he risk lowering his stock at the combine?
Exactly my point, why run when it don’t mean shit (other than to Al Davis), and then skip the stuff that means something like catching the ball.
All drills at the combine are a bit of a crapshoot. However, any drills involving throwing and catching are especially awkward since you are literally working with the next man up and not someone you have worked with before. Going tot he pro day is a controlled environment with losts of reps. Matt Stafford sat out the throwing drills at the combine on advice of his agent. However, we all know that Matt would have CRUSHED it in that environment. Teddy Bridgewater also sat out the throwing portion of the combine. Teddy doesn’t have Mat’s natural arm talent or ability to whip it around to anyone at anytime at a moment’s notice. He needed the safety net of the pro day rather than throwing to “next man up” with no practice reps.
What’s interesting is that “top prospects” agreeing to take part in combine drills was a recent thing. But when people are reporting it, they are acting like its new. Its not. It was the old norm.
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It seems that the broad jump and vertical jump numbers are also really good this year… which may point to a class of explosive athletes…. more than a fast turf creating faster 40 times.
It can also speak to a generation of kids who grew up watching the combine and have been doing these drills for half of their lives. Add to that the advancements in sports science and training techniques. These kids would have had alot of great info for free, just for being a part of this segment of the internet age. But on top of that many of these guys have a little money due to NIL. So they are able to hire special trainers to work on this kind of stuff for an extended period of time leading up to this point. In some cases…years ahead of the time to perform. In the “old days” guys could only gain access to the special combine specific trainers when their college football career was over and they hired an agent, who would then front the money for the training sessions.
Hendon Hooker said he was a part of some kind of “QB school” while at Tennessee. Him and some other QBs from around the country were a part of the group. There were tons of offseason benefits. But even in season, the guys were able to go to their “QB class” and review film with the “professor” and the rest of the group learned from it as well. They learned and adapted in real time. Kids playing JV football are able to review game film on their iPads on the ride home from the game. Its insane how “prepared” these kids are coming out compared to yesteryear.
I will add in one more factor. It has become more “acceptable” to be lighter than X weight at certain positions. So kids are willing to show up ready to perform, even if it doesn’t look the best on the scale. Steve Smith said his “natural weight” when he was coming out of Utah was somewhere aroune 165-172. But back then showing up at the combine at 5’-9" 165 lbs would have been a death sentence. And god forbid he dropped down to 160 lbs to perform even better. He said he put on some fake weight and loaded up on carbs and water to get to a combine measured 184 lbs. A current version of Steve Smith would have shown up 20 lbs lighter. Xavier Worthy just ran the fastest combine time ever. He showed up at 5’-11" 165 lbs.
Agents of yesteryear would have advised him that any performance that requires being below 180 lbs isn’t worth it. And they were right.
There was also a practice back in the day of showing up “heavy” at the combine and not competing. Then shedding the weight and competing at the pro day. Charles Rogers did this. He was no better than 185 lbs on a good day. He showed up at the combine and weighed in at 202 due to “fake weight.” Then he dropped weight to compete at his pro day.
So there were some really good combine performances that were never seen, because of how important “weight” was.
The combine performances are probably going to keep getting better over the next 5 to 8 years.
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It even starts younger than that. My son-in-law coaches a feeder program in GA. He has 6-8 assistant coaches and at least 3 film sessions a week with all of them. Then at least two with the kids - scouting their next opponent. 10 year olds have wristbands with play flaps, I’ve had the pleasure of stuffing play sheets in the wristbands before games, because of course they change every week. You name it nutrition advice/coaching, chiropractors, personal trainers, camps, more camps and more camps, motivational speakers – former pro’s, there’s little tweaks/more expected every year. Some of these ten year olds know more strategy than I do (granted that’s not too hard). AS you progress up to the freshman, JV and varsity teams it gets more and more intense. It really is insane.
I used to go to two pop-warner practices a week, and one was optional. I think we had four run plays and two pass plays.
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