40 yard dash - FootballIdiot (2024)

40 yard dash is really a wasteful measuring stick any way. I never played organized football but when I ran track I was faster, for 40 yards, than the school's record holder in the 100, 200, and 400. When it came down to the 100, he usually beat me by a full second (or more). My strength was being able to come out of the blocks quickly and hit my top speed quickly. Others start out slowly and pick up speed.

What I'm really trying to say is don't worry about the 40 time too much. Your agility and hands are much more important as a WR. Sure speed helps, but I've seen fast WRs run down by a slower LB. For example in today's 49ers v. Browns game, Michael Crabtree was covered by LB Chris Gocong. Gocong was right with him and prevented the catch. Is Gocong that fast? Absolutely not, but he was able to take the proper angle and put himself in position to make the play. Speed helps, but many times technique will get the advantage over speed.

dawg317 wrote:40 yard dash is really a wasteful measuring stick any way. I never played organized football but when I ran track I was faster, for 40 yards, than the school's record holder in the 100, 200, and 400. When it came down to the 100, he usually beat me by a full second (or more). My strength was being able to come out of the blocks quickly and hit my top speed quickly. Others start out slowly and pick up speed.

What I'm really trying to say is don't worry about the 40 time too much. Your agility and hands are much more important as a WR. Sure speed helps, but I've seen fast WRs run down by a slower LB. For example in today's 49ers v. Browns game, Michael Crabtree was covered by LB Chris Gocong. Gocong was right with him and prevented the catch. Is Gocong that fast? Absolutely not, but he was able to take the proper angle and put himself in position to make the play. Speed helps, but many times technique will get the advantage over speed.

Game speed means a lot more than the 40 yd dash. Someone on here said they clocked Mike vick running a 3.92 40 in a game when he was with ATL. Speed is important but if you run good routes, make all the easy catches, and some difficult ones, and know how to get open you'll be fine.

I ran a 4.3 40 in HS. Not flat but i kno it was 4.3 something. But the other WR was a skinny track sprinter ran a 4.2 and was faster than me. But i was stronger and more agile. He couldn't break tackles, and he dropped a lot of passes until our senior year.

Just a noob here, but:

That 3.9 that was clocked was a flying forty, which is a forty where you're already moving. A normal 40 you're at a stop and the clock starts on first movement. 3.9 is pretty fast for a flying forty, but we had a kid around here that would consistently get 3.95 to 4.05. The 10 and 20 yard times are much more important in football than the 40, IMO.