This sort of ties in with another thread on the board, in which there are some inciteful posts...
Recently on KNBR, Tom Tolbert and Ray Ratto were dissing the NFL Combine and, especially, those who find it interesting. While no doubt there are some "sports nerds" who go way overboard with this, the Combine is SUPER-important for slotting who's going to go where in the draft. Pre-combine predictitions are just pure speculation, but afterwards, things really solidify.
I find the case of Keenan Allen to be especially interesting, because, though I watched him for three seasons, I really don't have a feel for how fast he is. He is definitely an elite-level athlete. I would say that, after watching him return punts, his biggest strenth is his athletetic fluidity for a guy that size. After that, his hands are good and just his sheer size and strength itself.
His drawbacks might be that he has had a tendency to get injured and also that his production, in terms of TD receptions (especially in important games) never seemed to quite measure up to his perceived ability level (certainly a mitigating factor was the OL and the QB in his offense).
And then there's his speed (or lack thereof?). It's gotta be somewhere between 4.4 and 4.6, right? But where, exactly? .2 of a second is a huge difference, in NFL draft terms!
On the minus side, I don't really remember him getting great separation, or running away from defenders. On the plus side, he's certainly been training for this and I've noticed that Cal players have had some surprisingly fast times, which perhaps indicates to me that the players have been working with trainers that have been teaching them how to maximize their 40 times.
Anyway, I'll start with the first prediction: 4.50
Good luck to Keenan and Go Bears!
Recently on KNBR, Tom Tolbert and Ray Ratto were dissing the NFL Combine and, especially, those who find it interesting. While no doubt there are some "sports nerds" who go way overboard with this, the Combine is SUPER-important for slotting who's going to go where in the draft. Pre-combine predictitions are just pure speculation, but afterwards, things really solidify.
I find the case of Keenan Allen to be especially interesting, because, though I watched him for three seasons, I really don't have a feel for how fast he is. He is definitely an elite-level athlete. I would say that, after watching him return punts, his biggest strenth is his athletetic fluidity for a guy that size. After that, his hands are good and just his sheer size and strength itself.
His drawbacks might be that he has had a tendency to get injured and also that his production, in terms of TD receptions (especially in important games) never seemed to quite measure up to his perceived ability level (certainly a mitigating factor was the OL and the QB in his offense).
And then there's his speed (or lack thereof?). It's gotta be somewhere between 4.4 and 4.6, right? But where, exactly? .2 of a second is a huge difference, in NFL draft terms!
On the minus side, I don't really remember him getting great separation, or running away from defenders. On the plus side, he's certainly been training for this and I've noticed that Cal players have had some surprisingly fast times, which perhaps indicates to me that the players have been working with trainers that have been teaching them how to maximize their 40 times.
Anyway, I'll start with the first prediction: 4.50
Good luck to Keenan and Go Bears!