NFL - Are You Ready For Some Football?! - Off Season

[Imran Siddiqui]

Imran is a disciple of Al Davis. 40 times are the only things that matter.

So are you saying that you agree that Gerhart was picked in the 2nd round only because he was white? Or do you think 40 times matter in drafting?

And Sloww, Emmitt Smith was no where near the RB that Barry Sanders was.

[-Jrabbit]

Emmitt was the full package -- rushing, receiving, blocking, you name it. He was Paytonesque in that way.

Barry Sanders was the best pure runner I've seen since Gale Sayers, but was a one-dimensional player. Sanders was a terrible receiver (stone hands) and was not a consistently effective blocker.

[ColdWizard]

So are you saying that you agree that Gerhart was picked in the 2nd round only because he was white? Or do you think 40 times matter in drafting?

And Sloww, Emmitt Smith was no where near the RB that Barry Sanders was.

I'm saying that you're cracked for your apparent view of 40 times, just like Al Davis.

[Imran Siddiqui]

That they are very important to the drafting of RBs and that RB draft positions tend to depend on them? I didn't realize that was such a controversial view.

[-Jrabbit]

The problem in the NFL is that too many teams look at measurables first, other football skills second. Jahvid Best is fast, but (supposedly) easy to get on the ground. I want the guy who's a few hundredths slower but knows how to stay upright when he takes that first hit.

For the life of me, I will never understand why they don't do combine testing wearing football gear. That's another variable that gets conveniently glossed over.

[-Jrabbit]

I was poking around a few sites today and found this statement:

Barry Sanders holds the NFL record for negative yardage from scrimmage by a running back: 336 carries for -952 yards.

Makes his career totals all the more astonishing.

[Donegeal]

Hmmm... I had a 4.5 40 coming out of HS...

[Al B. Sure!]

Hmmm... I had a 4.5 40 coming out of HS...

Yes but could you also bench 225 for 22 reps, have a 38 inch vertical, and 9'10" broad jump like Gerhart?

[-Jrabbit]

Cool thing that happened in Chicago media this week. Lots of Bears are sporting mohawks this year, especially the defense. Not a big deal, just a standard team solidarity thing.

Local radio/TV host Carmen DeFalco, who does pregame/postgame as well as sports talk radio on the local ESPN affiliate - and is famed for his luxurious mane - made a training camp bet with Lance Briggs. DeFalco (like everyone else, really) said there was no way the Bears would go 3-0 to start the year, and if they did, he would get a mohawk.

A man of his word. (Of course, Briggs was there to make sure...)

Before:


After:

[SlowwHand]

So are you saying that you agree that Gerhart was picked in the 2nd round only because he was white? Or do you think 40 times matter in drafting?

And Sloww, Emmitt Smith was no where near the RB that Barry Sanders was.

You'll have to argue your case against more than me. I didn't make up the post, I copied and pasted.

[Al B. Sure!]

All these combine numbers are overrated and a lot of NFL GM's know this, although you still see guys getting drafted high almost entirely because of their 40-time (Heyward-Bey). I think Mike Mamula showed that you can't go completely off of combine performance (did you also know that not only was Mamula a physical stud at the combine, he also had a Wonderlic score of 49/50!).

[Donegeal]

Yes but could you also bench 225 for 22 reps, have a 38 inch vertical, and 9'10" broad jump like Gerhart?

No. I think my max back then was only 235, much less reps of 225. I did, however, have a 32" vert and... ****. I don't remember my broad jump. It was pretty good, but it wasn't 9'10". My strength was in quickness and squating over 600 pounds.

[Lord Avalon]

I was poking around a few sites today and found this statement:

Barry Sanders holds the NFL record for negative yardage from scrimmage by a running back: 336 carries for -952 yards.

Makes his career totals all the more astonishing.

Just think if Sanders had had a decent OL. Which might have happened if not for the curse of Bobby Layne. Or just the worst luck to lose Utley to a broken neck and Andolsek to getting killed by a truck while working in his front yard.

[-Jrabbit]

Hm. What's interesting about that popular belief is the fact that his own coaches and teammates -- Wayne Fontes in particular -- state that he was so good that it didn't really matter, good line or bad, because Sanders didn't follow his blockers. He was a habitual freelancer.

[Lord Avalon]

If the OL actually blocked somebody and got a push of a couple yards, a lot of those losses would at least be small positives, with a greater chance for more. A lot of the time Sanders faced a defensive lineman in the backfield, and couldn't always juke his way out.