The Bobcat Nation

Tested 40s today....no one under 4.5, JD ran a 4.8, Barnhart ran a 4.75 not too bad for a good size TE, Guinn ran a 4.8. Understand these are averages of 3 stop watches but if we have a TE running faster then our starting RB and WR is there a problem?? (the times are off my memory so I am pretty sure I have them correct but dont hold me to it)

wow,are you serious.thats pretty bad on JD and guinn but great for the TE.guys...you better be ready.

Didn't someone mention last year that Kramer starts the watches as soon as the gun sounds. As opposed to the method where the watches start after the player's first movement.

Kramer's preferred method always yields slower 40 times. Beal and Williams are a hell of a lot faster than 4.75 if they're running at a combine using the "first movement" method, than in the brick going off of a gun.

I could be all wrong about this...

I don't know if I would panic yet. Gavin, in addition to your last post, my understanding was that this 40 test came after an intense week of leg workouts, kicking it up on notch with max lifts? I heard many had tired leg's. Is the starting point for measuring speed improvement over the year?

I don't think we should be too quick to put too much stock into these 40 times. I personally am more interested in results on the field. Sure if you run a fast 40 time that might be able to help us, but there have been plenty of kids come through MSU who run fast and haven't panned out. We have a lot of talent that may not show up in the 40 times. We have some good football players regardless of their 40 speed and I think those are the guys who will show up on saturdays next season.

GavinDonos: You know why Mr. Clean uses the gun sound? Becouse the football isn't snaped after the first move of the player. Reaction time, reaction time. NFL just wants people to look fast & don't want to look stupid and cover some ass for all the bad picks that will be made.

Wasn't Gatewood in the top 3 or 4? Is Milton even in school? I would think they would at least show up on the radar screen!

jagur1 wrote:GavinDonos: You know why Mr. Clean uses the gun sound? Becouse the football isn't snaped after the first move of the player. Reaction time, reaction time. NFL just wants people to look fast & don't want to look stupid and cover some ass for all the bad picks that will be made.

Of course, if everyone used the same method, then the times would be comparable. I think that's the main point to be taken from the times.

Is Milton even in school?

I saw Milton in the SUB yesterday. He's pretty hard to miss with his Dennis Rodman/Sisqo bleached haircut. I talked with Morris' dad at the cat/griz game for a little bit, and he said that Morris is really loving his time in Bozeman, and that he will be ready to go next year.

Remember, they ran those 40's starting at 6:00am, maybe not the best time to get timed?

This is a little off topic (although it does speak to varying methods of timing 40's), but it reminded me of an old memory... so just indulge me.

As a Freshman in high school, we had a guy coaching us who had never played football, much less coached it. After the first full week of two a days, he decided that we were going to do 40 times. So he had us go out at the end of a brutal practice, in full pads, and timed our 40's. The times were terrible -- I remember thinking that my time was worse than the fattest guy in the NFL, and it made me feel even worse than I already was (as everyone who played for the first time as a Freshman probably felt at one point).

It was quite awhile later that we finally learned that:

1. Everybody else did their 40 times without pads. Some schools even did them on the track instead of the grass.

2. Everybody else did their 40 times when their legs were fresh -- not after a conditioning practice.

3. The coach forgot to factor in the fact that when he blew the whistle and started the watch 40 yards from us, not only does it assume perfect reaction time, but it also assumes that sound travels at the speed of light.

4. The managers weren't very bright and had actually marked off 40 meters instead of 40 yards.

So to this day, my only timed 40 in my life was miserable. I coulda been a contender... if only we would have had one of those wind-aided, friendly stop watch, running downhill with track spikes 40 times. Okay, not really, but we would have at least not all felt like a bunch of slugs that one day.

Are you positive a gun was used for starting 40's? I have never heard of that for testing 40 times. Sometimes there may be a starter yelling go or dropping his arm, but a gun? Too much of a pain in the ass. To run 60-70 players through 2 or 3 times, changing shells after every 5 - 6 starts. Too much of a hastle. I would very surprised if a starting gun was used.

FootballFan wrote:Are you positive a gun was used for starting 40's? I have never heard of that for testing 40 times. Sometimes there may be a starter yelling go or dropping his arm, but a gun? Too much of a pain in the ass. To run 60-70 players through 2 or 3 times, changing shells after every 5 - 6 starts. Too much of a hastle. I would very surprised if a starting gun was used.

A whistle may have been used maybe?

CARDIAC_CATS wrote:

FootballFan wrote:Are you positive a gun was used for starting 40's? I have never heard of that for testing 40 times. Sometimes there may be a starter yelling go or dropping his arm, but a gun? Too much of a pain in the ass. To run 60-70 players through 2 or 3 times, changing shells after every 5 - 6 starts. Too much of a hastle. I would very surprised if a starting gun was used.

A whistle may have been used maybe?

Or maybe even someone yelling, "Go!".

I was just trying to illustrate the difference in timing methods... One has the timekeeper reacting off the runner (fast time). One has the runner reacting off of a "start" cue (slower time). That was my only point. Wether an actual gun was used isn't really that important.

To hell with a gun or whistle....I think they should get Pamela Anderson to stand at the start line in a lime green, Body Glove two-piece, and waving a hot-pink kerchief to signal "GO!"

Wow...debating the nuances of 40 times....I can't believe I just read this thread. There is 2 and half minutes of my life I'll never get back. Damn it, I even wrote a reply.....make that 3 and a half minutes.

With the speed we usually have on defense, they might decide to get a drag racing christmas tree light Take off on the 3rd amber and not Green light or your late!