When you enter a pro football training camp as a rookie you are on high alert. You analyze everything going on around you and assess it all as either and aid or a threat. Jimmy was a fellow cornerback in the Seattle Seahawks camp and he was my roommate. Jimmy ran a 4.2.
When we are all scrambling for roster spots as free agents, Jimmy’s 4.2 was a threat or so I thought. I could run but not a 4.2. With our team’s first round pick Joey Galloway sporting a rumored 4.18 forty, Jimmy might look real good covering that guy everyday and that was going to bode well for him capturing the limited amount of roster spots. However, Jimmy was gone with the first cuts in training camp.
I was obsessed with speed then and Jimmy’s quick release from the roster was the beginning of an eye opening. Jimmy was ok in his back pedal, less ok turning and running and very limited in his football IQ. All of his speed could not overcome what he lacked in these other important areas and so he was a step behind everybody including the WRs that ran 4.6.
The NFL combine is upon us and it’s that time of year when the masses and the decision makers get obsessed with the physical numbers like height, weight, speed, etc. Falling to the back in all this will be the things that really matter when the bullets start flying on the gridiron. How smart a player are you? How in tune are you to your craft? How well do you execute the various movements that will take place on the field 100’s of times per season? Finally, how solid is your overall mental approach to the game?
To further emphasize my point, I grabbed some numbers for you to digest. Here are the fastest 40 times for DBs from the 2014 NFL combine. These players would have completed five years in the NFL and to this point, given us a fairly good idea of what they are.
- Justin Gilbert 4.37
- Phillip Gaines 4.38
- Bradley Roby 4.39
- Jaylen Watkins 4.41
- Brandon Dixon 4.41
Without going into exact detail because I’m not here to single out players, three members of this group are already out of the league. As a whole, this group of five had produced 15 career INTs, an average of 3 per player over four years and none of them have made a Pro Bowl. There are a couple of solid players in this group but as a whole, their production underachieves the 40 times if you are inclined to believe that speed is everything.
Here are the top 40 times for DBs from the 2015 NFL Combine. These players would have completed their fourth season in the league thus giving us a fairly decent look at who they are as players.
- Trae Waynes 4.31
- Justin Cox 4.36
- Ronald Darby 4.38
- Josh Shaw 4.44
- Craig Mager 4.44
- Charles Gaines 4.44
- Doran Grant 4.44
There are seven guys on this list because four guys tied with a time of 4.44. Four of the seven guys on this list are currently out of the league. Between the seven of them, they have 13 career INTs with Waynes and Darby accounting for 12 of them. No one on this list has been selected to a Pro Bowl as of yet.
There could be a number of contributing factors to the outcome of the players’ careers that I have listed. However, the point being made here is that speed does not conquer all. As Jimmy learned in Seahawks’ mini-camp and I have observed over the years, there are a number of equally or even more important factors that go into the success of a defensive back. Speed is critical component in a defensive back’s make up however, it’s not the only thing.
As players set out to improve their speed and other physical aspects of their game, they must be mindful of balance. Speed will only get you noticed but being able to last will depend largely on your knowledge of the game, mental approach and technique. Young players will pour an overwhelming amount of their time into what the stopwatch says and do so to the detriment of all of the other skills that matter. When they do so, their careers end faster than you can say four four forty.
For more information on some of the fastest 40 yard dashes ever run, check out The Fastest 40 Yard Dash Ever.
Chad Wilson is the owner of All Eyes DB Camp and author of "101 DB Tips". He played college football at the University of Miami and briefly in the NFL for the Seattle Seahawks. Over his 15 year high school football coaching career, he tutored over a dozen Division I defensive backs and as a trainer has worked with NFL All Pros, first round draft picks, college football All Americans and Top 10 ranked high school football prospects.
