For once, this past week I managed to come up with a column idea well before Sunday, (AKA “Oh, crap I have a column due tomorrow” day). Inspired by the NFL combine and Rich Eisen, I thought it would be fun to do some of the drills myself, and see how I stacked up.
The results, without a doubt, would have been embarrassing and slightly depressing. But it would have made for good column fodder, and I’m sure you would have been riveted by my description of the 40-yard dash.
Alas, time ultimately stood in my way. That, and laziness I suppose. As I write this, for instance, I am sitting in my apartment watching the Lakers and Magic. I occasionally look up, remember how much I hate J.J. Redick, marvel at Ron Artest’s Rodman-esque hair, and then return to this column.
So yeah, I could have done the drills. But the truth is, you probably wouldn’t have cared about my results. No one in his or her right mind really would.
And that’s precisely the point. The NFL combine, as you probably know, took place last week. For a few days (though they seemed like years), we were treated to endless coverage of the festivities. The Messiah (Tim Tebow) and his Disciples (the media) took over ESPN, as we learned about Tebow’s new throwing motion and where he might be drafted.
Perhaps the best example of the combine’s lunacy came when USC’s Taylor Mays ran the 40-yard dash. Originally, it was reported that he ran a 4.24, which, if you’re unfamiliar with draft-speak, is superhuman. Predictably, the media began to gush over the time, and you could practically feel Mays’ pockets widening as his draft stock rose.
That is, until the news broke that the time was really a 4.43. In other words, not superhuman. In a matter of minutes, Mays had gone from being classified as a “freak” to just “really athletic.”
This might seem insignificant, but in the crazy world of the NFL, it is quite the opposite. A difference of .19 seconds may have literally cost millions for Mays.
Darrius Heyward-Bey and Michael Crabtree are great examples of this bizarre ethos in the NFL. Heyward-Bey was virtually unknown coming out of the University of Maryland. In three seasons, he had just 2,089 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns. The most receptions he ever had in a collegiate season? 51.
Crabtree, meanwhile, was a well-known star by the time he left Texas Tech after his sophomore year. He caught 134 balls in his freshman year alone, to go along with 1,962 yards and 22 TDs. To put those numbers in perspective, he had more touchdowns in one season than Heyward-Bey did in his entire career.
Given that information, you’d have to be crazy to take Heyward-Bey over Crabtree, right? Well, it just so happens that Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis is, indeed, slightly insane. But that’s not the point.
There is a crucial wrinkle to this story. Heyward-Bey ran a 4.3 40-yard dash at the combine last year. Crabtree? He was injured and could not work out at all.
In the end, the Raiders were wooed by Heyward-Bey’s speed, ignored his production, and selected him seventh overall. Crabtree fell to 10th. It might not seem like that big of a difference, but Crabtree’s slip in the draft cost him $6.5 million in guaranteed money.
All of that over a silly workout time? Really? Predictably, Heyward-Bey was a non-factor in his rookie season, while Crabtree showed tons of promise.
Back to Mays for a minute. There’s no telling what will happen on draft day, but that .19 second difference probably cost him much more than it should have. Who knows whether he will pan out as a player, but you can pretty much guarantee he will be unfairly judged using meaningless numbers.
So, too, will plenty of other players. It’s the biggest flaw of the draft, and why I have a hard time taking these scouts and analysts seriously. Production should be what counts, not how many times you bench press 225 pounds.
I could have written about how I did in these drills. But you wouldn’t have cared. It’s a meaningless form of measurement, no matter who participates. Hopefully, scouts will realize this sooner rather than later. I don’t think Raiders fans can take this much longer.
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