Looking at some of the threads, there seems to be (to me) a lot of unfounded concerns about Dalvin's 40 time. Yeah, I agree, it was a little surprising, but it's still a good time. I decided to look into the available numbers so far and get a feel for how I think he's doing overall.
Here's my take; overall I think Dalvin is positioning himself well against the other backs. Remember, we aren't talking about scrubs - last couple years all the talk has been about Fournette and McCaffrey. All of these guys are elite. Listening to the comments, it just seems like nitpicking - I wouldn't foresee any NFL team to be unhappy with any of these guys. Here's some stats I was able to find:
Dalvin Cook
Height: 5'10" Weight: 210 Arm Length: 32 3/8 Hand Size: 9 1/4 Bench: 22 40 (first): 4.50 40 (second): 4.50 40 (official): 4.49 Vertical: 30.5" Broad: 9'8"
Leonard Fournette
Height: 6'0" Weight: 240 Arm Length: 31 5/8 Hand Size: 9 1/4 Bench: N/A 40(first): 4.51 40 (second): 4.52 40 (official): 4.51 Vertical: 28.5" Broad: N/A
Christian McCaffrey
Height: 5'11" Weight: 202 Arm Length: 30 Hand Size: 9 Bench: 10 40 (first): 4.49 40 (second): 4.59 40 (official): 4.48 Vertical: 37.5" Broad: 10'1"
Now to compare Dalvin in this group.
Measurables - I found it interesting that Dalvin had the longest reach and tied with Fournette with larger hand size. NFL is infatuated with reach and hand size. Hand size dictates ball handling in terms of catching and holding on to the ball. Now, we now Dalvin has had some issues with fumbling in the past - probably more technique than anything, but the measurable is there. And Dalvin is very good as a pass catcher. Having a longer reach definitely looks better when it comes to pass catching window. I thought it was interesting that with McCaffrey being an inch taller than Dalvin had a 2 3/8" less reach.
Bench - For whatever reason, Fournette didn't bench. But Dalvin was able to put up 225 22-times. Dalvin is tied for 4th out of all RB's that lifted. Our own Stevenson put up 24 and he's 235. To put that into perspective, he did just as much or more than 13 OL's during their bench. Put that up against McCaffrey's 10 and it's no contest.
40's - Fournette undoubtedly ran a really good time at 4.51 considering his size. And McCaffrey ran a 4.48; .01 faster than Dalvin. However, Dalvin was the only one of the two that ran two consistent times with the official being better. The other two had disparities between their two runs. Only 6 other RB's out of the field either matched or bested their first run. Not saying that equates to anything major - could be just technique issues or just a bad jump here, etc. But it could also be a slight indication of their stamina. That's a wild assumption, I know, but it is something noticeable since the majority of the field had worse times on their second try.
Verticals and Broad Jump - McCaffrey blew it out of the water here - hands down. But I think that is expected with the chatter of what type of back McCaffrey is. Dalvin was second in this group and Fournette was not as impressive in the one event he did participate in. But this would probably be overlooked since "he's a RB, not a jumper". I would assume that this would apply to Dalvin as well?
So compared to average of all RB's?
Average
Height: 5'10" Weight: 213 Arm Length: 31 Hand Size: 9 11/25 Bench: 18 40 (official): 4.58 Vertical: 33.0 Broad: 9'11"
So based on this, his percentile ranks (max, min in category) would be:
Height: 54 (6'1", 5'6") Weight: 38 (240, 176) Arm Length: 85 (33 1/4, 29) Hand Size: 40 (10 1/2, 8 1/2) Bench: 91 (30, 5) 40 (official): 79 (4.93, 4.37) Vertical: 31 (39.5, 28) Broad: 35 (10'11", 9'0")
Things that stand out: His bench, 40 and arm length. Perhaps some points of concern: his weight, vertical and broad jump. Not sure about how much impact the concerns have as a RB, but the stats don't lie.
It will be interesting to see how the 3-cone, 20 yard shuttle and 60 yard shuttles play out. Hopefully he does well in those.
So, maybe Dalvin didn't have those stats that had the extreme wow-factor. And no, he didn't have the fastest 40 time, but this isn't the Olympics - you don't win by being the fastest. It's the combination of the key measurables against game tape that matters. With that said, I don't think there is anything so far that diminished his value in the draft. Again, this is one of those RB classes that a lot of pundits are saying is one of the best in a long time. The fact that position that Dalvin is considered one of the few elite (afterall, it's not a matter of whether he's going first round but rather he's going to be the first RB off the board that people are really arguing at this point) puts him in pretty good company. Still have a few more drills to see but overall, I think Dalvin is showing great.
Go Noles!
p.s. I quickly crunched these numbers so if anyone sees anything off, please let me know. I'm not infallible and want to be has accurate as possible to tell a true story. Thanks for reading!
Here's my take; overall I think Dalvin is positioning himself well against the other backs. Remember, we aren't talking about scrubs - last couple years all the talk has been about Fournette and McCaffrey. All of these guys are elite. Listening to the comments, it just seems like nitpicking - I wouldn't foresee any NFL team to be unhappy with any of these guys. Here's some stats I was able to find:
Dalvin Cook
Height: 5'10" Weight: 210 Arm Length: 32 3/8 Hand Size: 9 1/4 Bench: 22 40 (first): 4.50 40 (second): 4.50 40 (official): 4.49 Vertical: 30.5" Broad: 9'8"
Leonard Fournette
Height: 6'0" Weight: 240 Arm Length: 31 5/8 Hand Size: 9 1/4 Bench: N/A 40(first): 4.51 40 (second): 4.52 40 (official): 4.51 Vertical: 28.5" Broad: N/A
Christian McCaffrey
Height: 5'11" Weight: 202 Arm Length: 30 Hand Size: 9 Bench: 10 40 (first): 4.49 40 (second): 4.59 40 (official): 4.48 Vertical: 37.5" Broad: 10'1"
Now to compare Dalvin in this group.
Measurables - I found it interesting that Dalvin had the longest reach and tied with Fournette with larger hand size. NFL is infatuated with reach and hand size. Hand size dictates ball handling in terms of catching and holding on to the ball. Now, we now Dalvin has had some issues with fumbling in the past - probably more technique than anything, but the measurable is there. And Dalvin is very good as a pass catcher. Having a longer reach definitely looks better when it comes to pass catching window. I thought it was interesting that with McCaffrey being an inch taller than Dalvin had a 2 3/8" less reach.
Bench - For whatever reason, Fournette didn't bench. But Dalvin was able to put up 225 22-times. Dalvin is tied for 4th out of all RB's that lifted. Our own Stevenson put up 24 and he's 235. To put that into perspective, he did just as much or more than 13 OL's during their bench. Put that up against McCaffrey's 10 and it's no contest.
40's - Fournette undoubtedly ran a really good time at 4.51 considering his size. And McCaffrey ran a 4.48; .01 faster than Dalvin. However, Dalvin was the only one of the two that ran two consistent times with the official being better. The other two had disparities between their two runs. Only 6 other RB's out of the field either matched or bested their first run. Not saying that equates to anything major - could be just technique issues or just a bad jump here, etc. But it could also be a slight indication of their stamina. That's a wild assumption, I know, but it is something noticeable since the majority of the field had worse times on their second try.
Verticals and Broad Jump - McCaffrey blew it out of the water here - hands down. But I think that is expected with the chatter of what type of back McCaffrey is. Dalvin was second in this group and Fournette was not as impressive in the one event he did participate in. But this would probably be overlooked since "he's a RB, not a jumper". I would assume that this would apply to Dalvin as well?
So compared to average of all RB's?
Average
Height: 5'10" Weight: 213 Arm Length: 31 Hand Size: 9 11/25 Bench: 18 40 (official): 4.58 Vertical: 33.0 Broad: 9'11"
So based on this, his percentile ranks (max, min in category) would be:
Height: 54 (6'1", 5'6") Weight: 38 (240, 176) Arm Length: 85 (33 1/4, 29) Hand Size: 40 (10 1/2, 8 1/2) Bench: 91 (30, 5) 40 (official): 79 (4.93, 4.37) Vertical: 31 (39.5, 28) Broad: 35 (10'11", 9'0")
Things that stand out: His bench, 40 and arm length. Perhaps some points of concern: his weight, vertical and broad jump. Not sure about how much impact the concerns have as a RB, but the stats don't lie.
It will be interesting to see how the 3-cone, 20 yard shuttle and 60 yard shuttles play out. Hopefully he does well in those.
So, maybe Dalvin didn't have those stats that had the extreme wow-factor. And no, he didn't have the fastest 40 time, but this isn't the Olympics - you don't win by being the fastest. It's the combination of the key measurables against game tape that matters. With that said, I don't think there is anything so far that diminished his value in the draft. Again, this is one of those RB classes that a lot of pundits are saying is one of the best in a long time. The fact that position that Dalvin is considered one of the few elite (afterall, it's not a matter of whether he's going first round but rather he's going to be the first RB off the board that people are really arguing at this point) puts him in pretty good company. Still have a few more drills to see but overall, I think Dalvin is showing great.
Go Noles!
p.s. I quickly crunched these numbers so if anyone sees anything off, please let me know. I'm not infallible and want to be has accurate as possible to tell a true story. Thanks for reading!
