Back Page

The need for speed

Donte Stallworth hopes his speed will help his numbers during his rookie year. AP

By Bob Harris, Special to CNNSI.com

Don’t let the title fool you folks. This column isn’t a discussion of how the NFL’s ban on ephedrine and certain other stimulants will affect guys like Shannon Sharpe and Bill Romanowski.

I’m talking about the overwhelming need for physical speed; the league-wide obsession with finding guys capable of getting from Point A to Point B faster than the other guy.

Just ask any NFL head coach, or better yet, ask one of the league's defensive coordinators what costs him the most sleep during the course of a given season?

I'd be willing to bet nine out of 10 give you the same one word answer: "Speed."

That's because coaches -- guys who put dinner on the table by making it their business to know this kind of stuff -- realize that speed is the real "difference maker" in the NFL.

Scratching the itch

An example? Look no further than Chiefs head coach Dick Vermeil, who added former Olympic sprinter John Capel to the Chiefs practice squad last year. Vermeil made no secret of the fact that Capel’s 4.33 speed gave the former Gator a legitimate shot at making this year’s 53-man roster.

In case you’re not familiar with his story -- and unless you’re a hardcore track fan, I’d be terribly surprised if you were -- Capel won the 200-meter Olympic trials when Michael Johnson and Maurice Greene pulled hamstrings. He went on to finish eighth at the Sydney Games.

Otherwise, he played sparingly in two seasons at Florida, catching only 11 passes while returning punts and kickoffs. But he tested positive for marijuana use at the Indy scouting combine, then was arrested for marijuana possession last May in Gainesville after Chicago relinquished their rights to him as a seventh-round draft pick.

Vermeil decided to roll the dice on Capel when he learned the youngster finally passed a drug test last fall. Asked to explain the move to bring aboard a guy with the character issues Capel brings with him, Vermeil replied without hesitation: "If you're going to work with somebody, start with somebody who has something you can't coach. ...

“Great speed.”

I realize Capel failed to make the final cut this year, but the fact he got a chance is significant.

So let's define "great speed"

For starters, obtaining "reliable" 40 times for NFL veterans ain't always easy. While there's not an NFL team out there that doesn't make a point of knowing a players' speed at any given time, it's not unusual for both the team and the individual in question to continue using a 40 time posted at the rookie combine or during a pre-draft workout as that players' "official" speed throughout his entire career.

The NFL scouting combine has been using electronic timing since 1990, but that’s one year after Deion Sanders set the standard against which all others are measured by running a 4.29 -- a standard that held up until February of this year when Donte’ Stallworth ran an “official” 4.26.

For the record, nobody else comes even close to those times -- at least not “officially.”

Urban speed legends

You might or might not be familiar with either of these recent “tales,” the first of which surround the rumors that current Green Bay running back Ahman Green ran a sub-4.2 40 during a workout in the spring of 1998.

Of course, I should point out that despite the mountain of publicity the rumors generated, the fact that nobody has ever stepped forward to take credit for running the stopwatch that day pretty much exiles this story in "USL" status land.

It's also worth noting that Green's official 40 time recorded prior to last year's draft was a less-than-dazzling 4.44.

And of course, the folks at Florida State insist current Jets receiver Laveranues Coles ran a hand-timed sub-4.2 40 for them a couple of years back. Do I believe them? Not necessarily.

The hand is quicker than the eye

Really??

Former track star Rahn Sheffield, coach of the women’s track and field team at San Diego State, concurs.

"You've got to take into consideration that most of these times are done with stopwatches. A 4.2 really translates to a 4.4. When you hand time [dashes] it opens up room for human error. So when a Marshall Faulk runs a 4.33, it really equates to a 4.5."

Really???

So, how fast do you suppose Green and Coles actually are? Why don’t we just say they’re both “really” fast and leave it at that?

Does it matter?

“The word starting to make the rounds on the Virginia Tech quarterback is that he can run the 40 in less than 4.3 seconds.

“I never saw Vick run a 40, and I wasn’t at his workout at Virginia Tech. But one thing I can guarantee is this: Vick cannot run the 40 in under 4.3 seconds. Heck, he can’t run it under 4.4, either. “And here’s why. The fastest starter I ever saw was sprinter Ben Johnson, and at the 1988 Seoul Olympics track and field’s fastest starter ran the 100 meters in a blistering 9.79 seconds, a time that later was disallowed after Johnson tested positive for steroids. Know how fast he covered the first 40? It was 4.69 seconds. Forty meters is approximately 44 yards, which means Johnson ran the first 40 in 4.26.”

An excellent point.

After all, are we really supposed to believe that a chemically enhanced Johnson -- the fastest starter in track history, who ran the fastest 100 in history -- would come in a lowly third in a race with Green and Coles?

But does it really matter??

“There is no statistical significance to a hundredth of a second. Set aside the standard-error problem that small flaws in timing accuracy guarantee any measurements this small will contain approximations that void the supposed precision. Assume the timers are totally flawless. Comparing a 4.38 and 4.45 time in the 40, the first is 1 percent faster than the second. A distinction of 1 percent just can't matter. Suppose two gentlemen with these times ran a 40-yard race to the goal line, one as a receiver and one as a defender; the 4.38 player would arrive at the goal line 14 inches sooner.

“That might decide an Olympics sprint showdown, but half the length of a faceguard is not going to turn the tide of a football game. Please, announcers and draftniks: round all times to tenths of a second, which do matter. ...”

A closer look

The 6-0, 197-pounder, who opted to leave Tennessee after his junior year, missed three games last season but still managed 41 catches for 821 yards and 10 touchdowns. He had 35 catches for 519 yards and a TD as a sophomore.

In addition to providing the kind of high-character presence the Saints desperately need, Stallworth addresses an immediate on-field need for play-making ability on the perimeter. According to New Orleans Times-Picayune beat writer Jeff Duncan, he should fill the hole that has existed for two years opposite Joe Horn.

Despite the fact that rookie receivers rarely have a major impact in the NFL, head coach Jim Haslett seemed to agree with Duncan when he told reporters, "Donte’ was the guy we coveted from the start. What can you say -- great speed, great intangibles, great kid. He can help us out immediately."

In fact, if you believe Duncan, coaches, team officials and just about anybody else who has watched him dominate recent practice sessions, Stallworth looks very much like the home run threat the Saints need to keep opposing defenses from focusing all their attention on teammate Joe Horn.

Why speed is no guarantee

Let’s take Buffalo Bills running back Shawn Bryson for example. At 6-1, 233 pounds, Bryson -- who boasts semi-freakish 4.3-speed in the 40 -- is bigger and faster than 5-9, 221-pound teammate Travis Henry.

While Henry is by no means slow, the list of NFL players capable of running Bryson down from behind is short indeed -- something the third-year man demonstrated effectively with an impressive 68-yard scoring run against the Falcons on Dec. 23.

Henry, however, is a bruising back who is capable of breaking tackles and is elusive in traffic. He hits the hole quickly and runs close to the ground, using that low center of gravity in concert with a powerful lower body and remarkable sense of balance to turn two-yard runs into a five-yard gains and extend five-yarders to eight. The fact he was a second-round draft pick of the team's new leadership regime doesn't hurt Henry's cause.

Asked to analyze both players prior to the regular season closer, head coach Gregg Williams noted, "Shawn has the breakaway speed that if you miss he can make you pay dearly. Travis has the ability to run through contact. He is a real punishing type of player."

In other words, the coach likes both guys.

And make no mistake about it. Even though Henry, who finished the year as the seventh Bills rookie to surpass the 700-yard rushing mark (after gaining 729 yards), still appears to be Williams' favorite, Bryson made considerable strides in terms of earning the coach's respect with his performance in the above mentioned loss to Atlanta.

"I liked several of the ways that Shawn finished plays last week," Williams said in the wake of that effort. "Guys might have brought him down but he punished them on the tackles, which was good, and that's an attitude in the run game that you need to have."

But don't let those punishing runs fool you. ... Speed is still what separates Bryson from the average human -- and it’s more than enough to keep the former fullback on an NFL roster for the foreseeable future -- whether he actually emerges as a legitimate offensive weapon or not.

Why speed is no guarantee (Part II)

For that matter, what led them to believe Hakim, who has yet to rise above the rank of No. 3 man during his four-year NFL career, is capable of producing consistently as a starter this year? After all, you don't front a guy $5.25 million in cash unless you expect him to line up as a starter from day one.

I'm not saying the former Ram can't meet those expectations. But the fact he's only made 11 appearances as an NFL starter -- most of them coming when St. Louis opened games in multiple-receiver sets -- could easily result in a tough transition for the diminutive (5-10, 182-pound) Hakim.

Nor am I particularly comforted by Mornhinweg's insistence that Hakim's slight build won't make it easy for opposing defenders to jam him at the line of scrimmage.

"I like big guys, but he's one of those smaller-stature men who defies odds," Mornhinweg said. "I really paid special attention to that in evaluating that. I looked at him in bump and run."

And what about Hakim’s propensity towards laying the ball on the carpet?

Considered one of the league's most dangerous return specialists early in his career, Hakim fumbled the ball 21 times during his four-year tenure in St. Louis. The problem became serious enough for Rams head coach Mike Martz to pull the former fourth-round draft pick off special teams duties late last season and during the team's playoff run earlier this year.

Of course, it’s not hard to figure out what blinded Mornhinweg to the obvious questions surrounding Hakim.

Can you say “speed?” Hakim can.

According to the former San Diego State star: "The last time I was timed in the 40 was when I was coming out of college. My fastest time was 4.28 and they made me run again because they didn't believe it on their clock. So I ran it again and they wanted me to run the other way. They felt like I ran with the wind that time, which might have been true because the second time I ran it was a 4.31. So that wasn't too bad either."

He's right. That's not bad.

But I'm not sure it's enough to fully cover the obvious weaknesses Mornhinweg and Millen ignored when they decided to let Morton go in favor of the admittedly fast but unproven Hakim.

It’s that darned need for speed thing again

He’s readily admitted that running back James Stewart was more versatile and dangerous than he ever imagined, but the consensus among those close to Mornhinweg says he’d drop the former Jaguar like a bad habit if he thought it might get him somebody with more even slightly more game-breaking ability.

A quick wrapup seems fitting

It’s like Vick said shortly after his first exhibition game last summer.

"I wasn't trying not to scramble. I was trying to get the first down. Guys were closing in very fast. One thing I do realize is these guys are a step faster than the guys in college. The next time I get on the corner I guess I have to run the 4.2 on them. I've got something for them the next time."

You know what?

If speed really does keep coaches awake then Vick oughta be in line for a lucrative endorsement deal from the folks at No-Doze.

Bob Harris is Editor and Webmaster of the TFL Report and Senior Editor for Fantasy Sports Publications. He will be one of the many experts competing in the World Championship of Fantasy Football, drafting in Las Vegas on Sept. 7.

 

Related information

Stories

Back Page: Preseason winners and losers

Multimedia

Visit Video Plus for the latest audio and video