4.46 for Darboh.....4.47 for Chesson!!!

Submitted by MichiganMan14 on
Great times for both receivers! Get paid young fellas. Braden ran great yesterday as well at nearly 5.0. Terrific start for our boys!!!!

spiff

March 4th, 2017 at 11:23 AM ^

Actually WR's and CB's are the pretty much the only positions where it is very relevant. They actually do run 30/40/50 yards in a straght line.

If a WR runs a forty in 4.43 and the CB runs one in 4.5, the WR might just have a bit more of a window for the QB to drop the pass into on a deep route.

Of course acceleration, agility, etc. still play a part. But the 40 is a key indicator for WR.

Not to mention situations where the WR may or may not get run down from behind by a DB.



So I think it is very important for WR.

In most other cases though, I totally agree.

bronxblue

March 4th, 2017 at 3:03 PM ^

It's all relative.  It's such a short distance that someone who is "fast" is fast throughout; you are taking off with a big burst, then pushing to the end.  This isn't the 400 meter or even the 100 meter, where guys can "cruise" a small bit.  The 40 isn't the end-all, be-all, but having a good time in it certain displays a certain level of speed that can translate to the NFL as much as 3-cone and broad jump numbers.

FauxMo

March 4th, 2017 at 11:42 AM ^

If it were really and truly as totally irrelevant as you say, do you really and truly believe the NFL would still use it? I mean, wouldn't all 32 GMs, owners, coaches, and scouts get together and say, "Hey, we've been using this evaluation tool that has no relationship to football player quality. Maybe we should eliminate and/or replace it?" 

This is not to say that it is the one and only thing that matters. But it is - like literally everything they do in this entire event - a useful additional piece of data that, when compiled together with lots of other data, scouts et al. can refer to when making decisions... 

Blue in Paradise

March 4th, 2017 at 12:11 PM ^

The interviews are important for guys that have red flags off the field. The combine is very important for guys from small (football) schools and guys coming off injuries. some teams do draft combine warriors over proven football players but it rarely works out.

My point is how can a few drills make a difference when you have hundreds of plays against strong competition on tape and you can see how they actually do in real situations and their progression over time. Even that is kot perfect but the correlation is much stronger.

Blue in Paradise

March 4th, 2017 at 11:19 PM ^

You nailed it, my point was that it is better to be slow as an NFL WR. /s

I wouldn't have added the /s if I was responding to any other poster but you. If this is still confusing to you, I will further clarify the difference between causation and correlation. Hopefully I am not using too big of words for you.

The Fan in Fargo

March 4th, 2017 at 11:31 AM ^

Not really. He's a long strider with strength and endurance. Hence his good track speed. Seldom saw him blow away defensive backs off of the line or get big separation in his routes.

stephenrjking

March 4th, 2017 at 2:50 PM ^

Yeah, that 40 time is stunning. Jehu Chesson was said to be the fastest guy on the team in 2015, and was the "speed guy" of the receiver corps. To have Darboh hit that time... wow. That demonstrates how much he developed in the last year, and helps explain how the receivers shook out last year.

This is more problematic for Chesson, a guy whose speed was his primary asset. His speed is very good but not worldbeating, and he struggled in other areas. Still, coming below a 4.5 might get him on a preseason roster, and then who knows?

1974

March 4th, 2017 at 1:04 PM ^

It might've also helped to have an offensive line that could get some "push" in the run game against middle-tier Big Ten teams.

- - -

No, I think there were too many holes or relative weaknesses on both sides of the ball (especially offense) to beat Clemson/Alabama. Look what happened to OSU. I'll have a "head asplode" moment if anyone suggests that Michigan would "match up better" than OSU.

Give it a couple of years. I think the future looks bright.

Frank Chuck

March 4th, 2017 at 2:29 PM ^

Our OL was the weakest position group. The average OL limited a national championships caliber team that was led by its national championship caliber defense.

 

I don't know how anyone can watch the Orange Bowl and not conclude that our OL wasn't weak. FSU's elite DL dominated our OL and limited what we could do offensively.

alum96

March 4th, 2017 at 2:42 PM ^

Co-sign.  Wouldnt want to have seen that OL vs the DLs in the championship game.  Speight was on the run almost all game vs FSU.  And we had very few holes in the running game the entire first half.  Clemson ran a bazillion plays and wore down Bama's defense late, something almost never done.  UM would have had 20 minutes of possession vs a Bama type defense. 

stephenrjking

March 4th, 2017 at 2:55 PM ^

Also co-sign. Speight wasn't perfect but the OL was the weakness of the team. Frankly, all Michigan needed were a couple of first downs on the ground against both Iowa and OSU and those games are wins; the OL was consistently incapable of gaining yards when it needed to.

But, honestly, we'll look back at the 2016 team in a few years and wonder how Harbaugh managed to coax so much production out of a team with that talent. The RBs were good but not great. The WRs were ok but limited. The OL was mediocre-to-bad. Wilton Speight was a redshirt sophomore 3-star QB. And Michigan was that close. That team was a great defense paired with a mediocre offense that played like a really good offense for big stretches of the season.

Danwillhor

March 4th, 2017 at 7:36 PM ^

our OL was below average (putting it lightly). Mayock mentioned being surprised that Kalis wasn't at the combine. I'm not - at all. I'm surprised Mags wasn't invited and kind of surprised that Braden was but Kalis is not an NFL player. He was barely a D1 CFB player. Bama/Clem would have destroyed our OL. Speight wouldn't have survived the half and we know how he played with even a little pressure in his face. He can get better but I'm one of the few that is sort of happy to see an OL reset. It can get worse than 2016 but not much.