Elitetrack: Sport Training & Conditioning

The 2013 NFL Combine was last weekend and despite what appeared to be fairly unimpressive times, the reality is that the NFL has for the last couple years moved out of the stone age and used partially electronic timing. The start is still manual (who knows why) but the finish line is now an electronic gate. So instead of the times being slow…they are, fairly (but not completely) reliable. They’

 
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No, they are not fully automated. They did it as a test run last year (2012), but did not release the results (so as not to hurt the feelings of the players and disappoint the fans).

They still use a hand held start.

I adjusted the article after you and Joe mentioned. I knew they tested going to FAT last year and didn’t release the results to the public but then when I saw they a laser start device again this year I assumed they were going to FAT for 2013.

Using a manual start and electronic finish is a complete abomination of reason. It’s like the league’s drug testing policies…..all for appearances.

This is an interesting article on just how inaccurate and unreliable NFL combine times can be: http://www.aolnews.com/2010/03/02/did-the-nfl-screw-up-taylor-mays-time/

For kicks and giggles I put some 40 videos into avidemux and timed several athletes from the moment their hand leaves the ground.  I have CJ Spiller at 4.46, Chris Johnson at 4.50, and Trindon Holliday at 4.50.  Not super scientific, but it’s food for thought.

EDIT: I also looked at Jacoby Ford (4.40), Taylor Mays (4.50), and RG3 (4.56).

Interesting read. We have a similar thing in the UK with soccer players thinking they can run 10.3 because they raced someone aged 14 who went on to run 10.3

Yeah, its sad to say this but the NFL will not change when it comes to timing the 40yd dash, or take drug testing seriously as well. Too much $$$ is involved.

Even with the laser finish the combine times are still bogus. I watched the 40yd dash for this years combine and the NFL Network simulcam was used to compare Marquise Goodwin to Tavon Austin. Tavon was step for step to the finish; at the absolute most it was a .03s difference. When the simulcam was used to compare Goodwin to Onterio McCaleb, there was a 1-2m separation between the 2, yet the “official” results show Austin and McCaleb running the same time. From the link that was posted above, this obviously happens every year and probably in far more cases than are talked about. I find the notion of there being a “combine record” completely ridiculous, when timing is still so inaccurate and imprecise. Switch to FAT or as someone else already mentioned use video (like the Simulcam that is already being used to show the world how bogus these times are) to determine the “official” time.

Northern Iowa wide receiver Terrell Sinkfield ran such a fast 40-yard dash time Monday at Minnesota’s Pro Day that he was asked to run it again.

Sinkfield’s second attempt was clocked at 4.19 seconds, 0.05 faster than Chris Johnson’s NFL Scouting Combine record of 4.24 seconds in 2008,  according to Fox Sports North. Sinkfield ran a 4.27 in his first attempt. He stumbled in his third attempt yet still finished it in 4.41 seconds.

“I knew it was good when I finished,” Sinkfield said of his 4.19. “I was pretty happy, so I came back. I thought I messed up when they said go again. I’m like, ‘Dang, why do I have to run again?’”

The former track sprinter grew up in the Minneapolis area but wasn’t heavily recruited by Division I programs. He led Northern Iowa with 43 catches for 499 yards and four touchdowns in his senior season.

Whether he ran a legitimate sub-4.2 40-yard dash is debatable. It’s unquestionable that the unknown receiver turned heads in front of scouts, which is one of the reasons pro days exist.

NFL teams always have loved speed, and even without the 4.19, Sinkfield’s blazing times are at an NFL level.

Watching the 6-foot-1 receiver’s highlights on YouTube, we expected to see a lot of go routes and Sinkfield just running away from defenders, but the senior displayed a lot more polish than just a track runner. He adjusts well to many of the underthrown passes, fights for the ball and displays elusiveness in the screen game.

The NFL wasteland is littered with fast athletes who couldn’t find a role. Sinkfield’s speed will earn attention, but he has to prove his other skills warrant him a chance to play at the pro level.

It makes for a great headline: An unheralded prospect from a small school showed up at Minnesota’s Pro Day and turned in a 40-yard dash that was faster than anyone has ever run at the NFL Scouting Combine.

Unfortunately, you’d have to be a fool to believe it.

According to FOX Sports North, Northern Iowa receiver was timed at 4.19 seconds in the 40, which would break Chris Johnson’s Combine record of 4.24 seconds. Sinkfield said afterward that that’s what he was aiming for.

“That was the expectation, really. Aim big. I was trying to get that 4.1,” Sinkfield said.

But come on. If someone timed Sinkfield at 4.19 seconds, that means someone had an itchy trigger finger on his stopwatch. Does anyone seriously believe that Sinkfield, who has no major track and field accomplishments beyond high school, is faster than Broncos return man Trindon Holliday, who won the NCAA 100-meter dash title? That’s what you’d have to believe if you believe Sinkfield ran a 4.19-second 40. Sinkfield caught 43 passes for 499 yards and four touchdowns in his senior season, and his longest catch of the year was 32 yards. Does anyone seriously believe that a guy who can run a 4.19-second 40 would only average 11.6 yards a catch, only score four touchdowns and never break one longer than 32 yards against Division I-AA competition? If Sinkfield ran a 4.19-second 40, then I had a 4.0 GPA.

Fortunately, we don’t only have to rely on this one dubious stopwatch for Sinkfield’s 40 time. Scott Studwell, the Vikings’ director of college scouting, was also timing Sinkfield and told the Pioneer Press that Sinkfield is fast, but he didn’t break 4.3 seconds in any of his three 40-yard dash attempts.

“He ran in the high 4.3s. He can run. He ran fast. He tested well,” Studwell said.

Good for Sinkfield for running in the high 4.3s. That’s a great time, a time that will get him noticed by NFL teams. Only 11 players at the Scouting Combine were in the high 4.3s or faster.

But the reports of the 4.19 are a good reminder that Pro Day numbers aren’t always what they’re cracked up to be. When you hear a Pro Day number that sounds like it couldn’t possibly be true, don’t believe the hype.