Even as data from the annual NFL Scouting Combine is being sorted, the media darling that is the Draft Circus takes its act on the road, with the first of more than 225 Pro Days starting Thursday at Northern Arizona and Vanderbilt.
Ostensibly, this is where athletes hope to improve their marks from the combine or, for those who weren’t invited to the big Indy bash, get their data on the record for running, jumping and lifting.
It is yet another part of NFL teams’ preparation for the player draft that begins April 28 in Chicago. If this were a movie, their plight might be described as seeking A Few Good Men. But as they scour data after the combine at these on-campus Pro Days, a line from Jack Nicholson is appropriate.
“The Truth? You can’t handle the truth.”
Fact is, that once the underwear Olympics portion of scouting leaves the confines of the combine at Lucas Oil Stadium, data at Pro Days on all the running events, including the highly popular 40-yard dash, are no longer trustworthy and often far from the so-called truth.
Well, unless they at least use the very same methodology and equipment at the Pro Days as they did at the combine. That would be the timing devices provided by Zybek Sports of Boulder, Colo.
Zybek devices have done all the 40-yard times at the combine for the last six years. Founder Michael Weinstein wants to do his part to help all schools, all athletes get a fair chance at finding the truth.
“I am willing to offer the Zybek timing device for any school that wants it for a Pro Day,” he told The Sports Xchange on Tuesday. “Just call me on my cell — 818-419-2432. I will be glad to provide them with the same equipment used at the NFL Combine for the last six years. In the interest of accuracy, I will let them use it for their Pro Days for free.”
And this is where schools, teams, athletes must be ready to know the truth. Historically, the combine method of timing is to start the clock on the athlete’s first movement and stop it when he crosses a beam. But most colleges are still old school, using a hand-held stopwatch.
Big deal? You betchya.
Weinstein, whose company timed more than 200,000 high school athletes in the last year, has empirical data from years of testing that shows that hand-held stopwatches yield times in 40-yard runs that range from 0.10 to 0.25 seconds faster with the hand-held clocking than the Indianapolis Combine method. The average difference was 0.17 faster.
“We timed thousands of athletes with three different methods on the same run and hand-held times are faster in 99 percent of the runs,” Weinstein said. “The slowest time is when clock is started electronically, when the athlete lifts his hand. The so-called combine time is in the middle. The clock is started by a coach seven yards from the start as soon as the athlete moves. It is stopped when the athlete crosses the beam at the finish.”
The NFL accepts the combine method because it is a compromise that teams, coaches and athletes can relate to. Fast times are still in the 4.30-second range. If they used fully automated, those same fastest times would be in the 4.50-second range.
And the whole combine culture would be in shock, or denial.
“So we provide equipment that will allow them to do any of the three methods,” Weinstein said. “If they want it to relate to the Indianapolis Combine, then they chose the hand-held start and electronic finish.”
According to times announced by NFL.com at the combine, here were the fastest 40-yard clockings this year:
4.31 — Keith Marshall, running back, Georgia
4.32 — Will Fuller, wide receiver, Notre Dame
4.33 — Jonathan Jones, cornerback, Auburn
4.34 — T. J. Green, free safety, Clemson
4.35 — Anthony Brown, cornerback, Purdue
4.37 — William Jackson III, cornerback, Houston
4.37 — Brandon Williams, cornerback, Texas A&M
4.39 — Kolby Listenbee, wide receiver, TCU
4.39 — Kevon Seymour, cornerback, USC
4.40 — Eli Apple, cornerback, Ohio State
Below is a partial list of Pro Days by date. Remember to add an average of 0.17 of a second to all hand-held times in order to compare to Indianapolis Combine results:
–March 3: Northern Arizona, Vanderbilt.
–March 4: Arizona State, Nebraska, Troy, Kentucky, Alabama State, Eastern Kentucky.
–March 7: Auburn, Prairie View AM, Minnesota.
–March 8: Connecticut, Northwestern, Oklahoma State, Kansas State, West Georgia, Northern Colorado, Samford, Jacksonville State.
–March 9: Marshall, Wisconsin, Rutgers, Buffalo, Alabama, Oklahoma, Central Oklahoma, Louisville, New Mexico State, Colorado, Monmouth (NJ), Illinois, Tulsa, Mississippi State, Fordham, Miami (OH), Furman, New Mexico, New Mexico Highlands.
–March 10: Clemson, Fordham, Furman, Oregon, Washington State, Harvard, Illinois, Miami of Ohio, Mississippi State, Tulsa.
–March 11: Oregon State, West Alabama, Georgia State, Ohio State, Northern Illinois, Texas Tech.
–March 14: Toledo, Wake Forest, Cincinnati, Southern, Bowling Green, Sacramento State, LSU.
–March 15: Charlotte, UCLA, Youngstown State, Ouachita Baptist, Grand Valley State, Delta State, Virginia, Northwestern State, Richmond.
–March 16: Georgia, Louisiana-Lafayette, Boston College, Arkansas, Temple, Michigan State, Pittsburgh, Baylor, Newberry, Fresno State, Virginia Tech, Duquesne, Old Dominion.
–March 17: San Diego State, Stanford, Central Arkansas, Kennesaw State, Southeastern Louisiana, Central Michigan, William & Mary, Penn State.
–March 18: California, Georgia Tech, Akron, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Michigan, Navy.
–March 21: North Carolina State, South Florida, Louisiana-Monroe, Campbell, Incarnate Word.
–March 22: Iowa State, Florida, Grambling, Pittsburg State, Azusa Pacific, North Carolina, Texas State, Montana State, Hawaii, Louisiana Tech, North Carolina AT.
–March 23: Southern California, Syracuse, Weber State, Ohio, North Carolina Central, Valdosta State, Texas, Alcorn State, Central Florida, Kansas, Jackson State, Liberty, Purdue.
–March 24: Arizona, Houston, North Dakota State, Missouri Western, Rice, Cal Poly, Massachusetts, Southern Miss, Utah, Ball State, Lamar, Bethune-Cookman.
–March 25: Stephen F. Austin, Brigham Young.
–March 28: Mississippi, South Alabama, California-Davis, Angelo State, Abilene Christian, Fort Valley State, Stony Brook.
–March 29: Western Kentucky, Midwestern State, Chattanooga, Tarleton State, Florida State.
–March 30: Miami (FL), Southern Methodist, Tennessee, Maryland, Southern Utah, South Carolina, Princeton, Florida International, South Carolina State, Indiana.
–March 31: Florida Atlantic, Notre Dame, Boise State, Yale, Appalachian State, Middle Tennessee, Citadel, Texas Christian, Florida Tech.
–April 1: Eastern Washington, Jacksonville, Villanova, Coastal Carolina.
–April 2: Dartmouth.
–April 4: West Virginia, Arkansas State.
–April 5: Sam Houston State.
–April 6: Texas AM, Georgia Southern, Memphis, Utah State.
–April 7: Southeast Missouri.