Blazing fast Dalvin Cook shows how irrelevant 40-yard dash times can be
At Florida State, Dalvin Cook gained a reputation as one of the quickest players in college football. His 40-yard dash time, though, is nothing special.A stop watch is certainly one tool available when measuring the speed of NFL players, but like a lot of measuring tools that have been around for a while it is probably not the best. Simply gauging how long it takes a player to go from point A to point B in a straight line is a convenient way to compare a lot of people in a similar situation, but it’s not a thing that really happens on the football field much.
A good example: Vikings rookie running back Dalvin Cook. At Florida State, Cook gained a reputation as one of the quickest players in college football. Then he arrived at the NFL Scouting Combine and ran the 40-yard dash in 4.49 seconds — a good time, to be sure, but maybe not the number some teams were looking for.
SB Nation wrote of Cook’s combine performance: “An average performance at the 2017 NFL Combine tempered a lot of enthusiasm. Cook ran a 4.49-second 40-yard dash, slower than expected.”
http://www.startribune.com/blazing-fast-vikings-rb-dalvin-cook-shows-how-irrelevant-40-yard-dash-times-can-be/444228353/
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
The Vikings drafted Cook in the second round. Presumably character questions were as big a factor as anything in him lasting that long, but teams could also nitpick about his speed.
So it was interesting — and heartening, for a Vikings fan — to see this nugget tweeted Tuesday by Randall Liu of NFL Communications: “Dalvin Cook recorded 2 of the top 3 fastest max speeds by a RB in Week 1 reaching top speeds of: 20.45 MPH 19.98 MPH.”
That jibes with a tweet from April — between the combine and the draft — from Bleacher Report’s Marcus Mosher: “According to Sports Science, Cook has the second fastest top speed of any RB they’ve tested in the past five years.”
He got chased down by a LBer who had a bad angle on his 33 yd. run.
@"mgobluevikes" said: He got chased down by a LBer who had a bad angle on his 33 yd. run.The LB with a bad angle had the fastest time. On second thought, it was a good angle :)
@"mgobluevikes" said: He got chased down by a LBer who had a bad angle on his 33 yd. run.Looked plenty fast in the game vs Michigan...
@"mgobluevikes" said: He got chased down by a LBer who had a bad angle on his 33 yd. run.Angles. Angles. Angles.
Underwear fast and football fast are 2 different things. I think the combine is the most overrated event in sports.
(Except for the interviews)
He got 127 yards. I'm good. Now he just needs to stay out of off the field troubles that plagued him in the past
Running in a straight line and on field speed are two different things (Yes, you guys know this lol) and if anyone watched Cook in college would know just how fast he is with the ball in his hands.
My favorite player coming out (FSU fan I must admit)
@"mgobluevikes" said: He got chased down by a LBer who had a bad angle on his 33 yd. run.Actually, I thought there was no way anyone was going to catch him on that last run. I think he was getting gassed. But it's a damn fine game 1 imo.
Clearly a tail-back for this generation of play...
@"purplefaithful" said:@"mgobluevikes" said: He got chased down by a LBer who had a bad angle on his 33 yd. run. Actually, I thought there was no way anyone was going to catch him on that last run. I think he was getting gassed. But it's a damn fine game 1 imo.Clearly a tail-back for this generation of play...
Exactly what new NFL offenses need in a RB. Perfect fit for us and we are damn lucky he dropped. I am really glad we got away from the traditional RB system. I will miss Peterson but its just outdated.
Just saying, as a rookie on that last run there's no way Peterson gets run down from behind on that last run. It's not a knock on Cook. I'll happily take a guy with a more balanced game, that shows some patience, has vision, and can consistently get 5 yds. a carry, vs. a guy who runs into the backsides of his blockers 70% of the time, and gets the occasional long gainer. Peterson was exciting at times, he won some games for us, but was also very frustrating to watch at times.
Dalvin will be (is already?) very good. He has more very good speed, adequate power, is a good receiver (that did not show up in game 1), has very good vision, excellent quickness / change of direction, and picks up the blitz as a rookie far better that Peterson ever has. He may never be a hall of famer or a league MVP, but assuming he avoids injuries and off the field issues, this is one position we do not have to worry about for a few years.
As was mentioned many times around draft time, Cook is fast in pads. It really is amazing how big a difference there is. Murray ran a faster 40 time than Cook, but I'd bet Cook smokes him in pads. Not that it matters much. I'd say quickness and acceleration are bigger factors for a back.
@"purplefaithful" said:@"mgobluevikes" said: He got chased down by a LBer who had a bad angle on his 33 yd. run. Actually, I thought there was no way anyone was going to catch him on that last run. I think he was getting gassed. But it's a damn fine game 1 imo.Clearly a tail-back for this generation of play...
The two big runs that he broke were both to the outside, so he's running like 40-45 yards to gain 30 and the extra distance/time is enough to give the D a chance to catch him. With Peterson his big runs tended to be up the middle against a stacked D, so once he got past the first level there wasn't much left to stop. I do think that Cook will break some long TDs, but the frequency that Peterson could score 60-70 yard TDs was special.
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