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Athletics

For more accurate combine numbers, let's go back to hand timing

NFL talent evaluators have long complained that the 40-yard-dash times that fans know so well are poor indicators of "game speed". One reason why - the drill measures how cleanly athletes can jump out of a sprinter's stance. Hand timing measures the time from when the runner starts to when he crosses the finish, and doesn't penalize for flinching.

by Zachary Adam Zell on May 21st, 2014, 5:27 pm PDT. This Ivia has been viewed 5,636 times. Last improved on August 26th, 2014, 2:25 am PDT.

The suggested method

The combines speed results should be the average of multiple 10+ hand clockings and in addition one from start to finish laser time, than remove the fastest and slowest times to get the official time.

Notable combine times

  • Chris Johnson RB: 4.24
  • Patrick Willis MLB: 4.51
  • Jevon Kearse DE: 4.43

Fans know many NFL players' 40 times better than their total tackles or rushing yards, which makes this even more important.

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About the Author

Zachary Adam Zell
Petaluma, California, United States
Founder and CEO at ImproveVia
Sonoma State University

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Reed W. Solomon 10 years ago

De'Anthony Thomas' times are a great example.
http://www.csnnw.com/ducks/former-oregon-star-deanthony-thomas-runs-mysterious-450-40-nfl-combine
He ran a 4.34 and 4.38 at his pro day too, so it looks like the official time is the outlier.
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Zachary Adam Zell 10 years ago

It is pretty weird seeing the what seems to be random times being shown after the clocked ones.