It certainly doesn't help Elders' stock that he's smallish and ran a mediocre forty. Nobody's going to argue that. But if you want to justify drafting a less productive corner earlier simply because he ran a slightly faster forty yard dash, you're planning for failure. We've seen Corn Elder excel in man and zone coverage. We've seen him make plays against the run that 90% of corner backs can't/don't make. It's obvious that you have to factor in the type of scheme and coverage you run but unless you're a guarantee lock-down corner, that's the case for every corner in the draft.
The forty is good for determining really fast or really slow players but you can't say a guy who runs a 4.48 will play football faster than a guy who runs a 4.52. Slight differences in forty times are often attributed to a player's ability to maximize efficiency getting off the line and reaching maximum speed as quick as possible. When you line up to cover someone in football, you're not in starting blocks, facing the direction you're going to run. You have to backpedal, turn and run. Those motions are completely different than running a straight forty yard dash. I think a lot of the agility drills are a better measurement of a player's football ability than the forty. I think things like forty times and bench press reps are just part of the combine to give people numbers to throw out. Everyone loves throwing stats and numbers around and forty times are ****.
Yep. Like I mentioned earlier in this thread, you can actually tell Corn doesn't have optimal form in the 40. He jumps out of the block and basically gets upright early. Stuff like that will tack a few tenths of a second to your 40. More importantly, none of that stuff matters in the game because you're not in that position when in coverage. Now, i'm not saying the 40 is worthless, as you need requisite straight line speed to cover vertical routes. The 40 is useful. It is a standardized test to use.
It needs context, and that's where lots of GMs fail. If I were in a front office, I'd look at the whole time vs splits - 0-10, 11-20, 21-30, 31-40, etc. 3-Cone and SS are critical pieces of data. Especially with DBs. Think of all the variables that go into coverage. You need short area burst. You need hip flexibility. You need recognition. You need straight line speed. Etc. All of those can be the difference in a WR getting necessary separation.
Take a look at these numbers:
Malcolm Butler
5' 9.5"
187
4.62 40
4.27 SS
33.5 Vert
7.20 3-Cone
***Mind you, all of the above are PRO DAY results; not combine.
Butler isn't hidden in his scheme, either. He plays Man & Zone. He plays inside and outside. Someone is going to get great value in Corn. I hope it's the Phins. Also, throw me Jermaine Grace. Thanks in advance.
That's why being a GM (and attributing Star ratings to HS prospects) is so difficult. When is the less athletic/more productive the better prospect, and when is the more athletic/less productive guy better? NFL teams put millions of dollars into it and get it wrong all the time. It's a tough job.
To play Devil's Advocate, I look at Macho Harris from Virginia Tech at the 2009 NFL Combine:
Macho Harris
5' 11"
187
4.68 40
3.98 SS (2nd best for DB at the Combine)
33.5 Vert
6.68 3-Cone (2nd best for DB at the Combine)
He was 1st Team All-ACC, 2nd Team All American. Had 15 INT's in college, 4 returned for TD's. Had a kickoff return for a TD. Played CB/S/WR/RB his Senior year. He was physical against the run, and ****y as ****. He made plays all over the field. I HATED this guy.
So his production, and short area/change of direction quickness were all ridiculous. But that 4.68....
He was drafted in the 5th, lasted 1 year in the NFL, and has been in the CFL since. He was too slow for CB, too small for Safety.
Now Elder's 4.55 is MUCH better than a 4.68. But it shows how important speed can be, even if you're off the charts in every other area. It wasn't that the slow 40 made Harris unproductive, it kept him from even making a team.
