Mar 1st, 2010
Let’s face it, nobody other than the NFL people knows what to make of the numbers generated by the NFL combine. And we’re not even sure about the NFL people sometimes.
Toby Gerhart's speed was the major question of NFL scouts. Did he answer it?
Everybody else just nods in agreement with the person who seems to know that this 40 time lifted a player from the seventh to the sixth round or that such and such many bench presses dropped a player several positions among pass-rushing outside linebackers who play on third down.
Which brings us to the Bay Area running backs, Cals’ Jahvid Best and Stanford’s Toby Gerhart, who, the experts suggested, had a lot riding on the NFL combine.
We at JakesTakeOnSports can bring you some of the raw numbers, but it’s up to you to decide which “expert” to believe in determining whether it was a good showing or not.
Lest’s start with Best.
First of all, it’s worth noting that Best was measured at 5-10 and 199 pounds. That’s noteworthy because Best was listed at 5-10, 195 pounds by Cal, and when is the last time a player’s height or weight was understated by the school? Generally, the school adds an inch or two and several pounds.
More significant, of course, is Best’s 40-yard dash time of 4.35 seconds. That was the best among all running backs at the combine, even better than Clemson’s C.J. Spiller, who came in a 4.37 (although it was initially timed in an unofficial 4.28). Only wide receiver Jacoby Ford (4.28) and specialty player Trindon Holliday (4.34) were faster than Best. This pretty much confirmed what the NFL already knew about Best. The guy is fast.
Best was also the fastest running back in the three-cone drill, although most of us don’t even know what that is, and wouldn’t be able to translate it importance for playing football even if we did.
Best also reportedly did well in the pass-catching drills, which actually relates to what players do during a football game. Again, this just confirms what NFL folks already knew about Best.
The conclusions from the experts vary. Some say that his 199 pounds will give NFL scouts some evidence that Best’s build will make him durable, which was a question about Best, although we don’t know why adding four or five pounds would make a player less likely to get another concussion or less prone to an elbow injury. Others say he’s overweight, although the time in the 40 would seem to counter than argument.
Some conclude Best’s performance solidified his position in the second round. Others say it made him a first-round possibility, although the latter opinion seems mor prevalent.
Now Gerhart:
At the combine, he was measured at 6-0, 231 pounds, which is about right for a guy who was listed as 6-1, 235 pounds by Stanford. Being a bit lighter than his listed weight is probably a good thing in Gerhart’s case.
He did well in the bench press as expected, getting the 225 pounds up 22 times, which sure seems like a lot to us. But he also had a 38-inch vertical leap, pretty good for guy his size. It was better than Joe McKnight’s vertical anyway.
Gerhart also had a standing broad jump of 9 feet, 10 inches, and what’s amazing to us that was only ninth best among running backs.
OK, we’ve been skirting around the one important issue for Gerhart – his time in the 40, which was supposed to make or break his draft resume.
He was timed in 4.53 seconds. That seems impressive from here, and most “experts” decided that solified a spot in the second round after it had been projected he’d go anywhere from the second to fourth round. It also that meant he would be drafted as a running back, not a fullback (as if that was ever a possibility). Others were not so sure Gerhart’s time could be viewed as a success. Gerhart was hoping to shock the scouts by running something in 4.4s, and that would have shot him up the charts, maybe into the latter part of the first round (or so they say). Most were expecting him to run in the mid-4.5s, and that’s what he did.
But consider this. Gerhart’s time was faster than the 4.56 run last year by Knowshon Moreno, who weighed 14 pounds less than Gerhart but was the 12th overall pick in last year’s NFL draft. If you’re an NFL scout, you can make virtually any pick you want and find some number in some category to rationalize the choice.
In a relative sense, the 40 times may have hurt Gerhart, because Fresno State’s Ryan Mathews was timed in 4.45, an impressive time for a player who weighs 218 pounds and led the nation in yards per game last season. He may be drafted in the first round as a result. He was already projected to be taken ahead of Gerhart, and this may have solidified it. Or not.
Generally speaking — and that’s what we do at JakesTakeOnSports — Best and Gerhart seemed to help themselves with their combine results.
