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Track speed vs. football speed


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Track is way different type of running and a different type of training regime needed. It is an impressive feat for DK at his size with very little if any of that training was able to beat out 2 other track athletes who had been training for that event presumably for years. 

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It's not really speed that is the issue...he can run fast. It's the maintaining speed past 40-50 yards and not wasting any steps. To shave a half second off your times takes years or practice and perfecting your form under the eyes of professional track coaches, something Metcalf obviously doesn't have time for.

Edited by Big Turk
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Metcalf's 10.37 time is pretty lit for a 6'3" 230+ pounder. But y'all forget that Bills players have actually done even better. To my knowledge, Marquise Goodwin has run a 10.24 and that may not even be his fastest. I am also reasonably sure Chris Johnson or John Ross could  best the 10.37.

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24 minutes ago, Niagara Dude said:

Still pissed we took Ford over this future HOF player

 

DK could fly by the HOF, but at the time nobody was sure if he could turn into the parking lot.  :)

 

I get that hindsight is perfect, but this picture is yet to be fully formed. We still don’t know what Ford will be, but I’ll try to be hopeful.

 

Regardless, I won’t let regrets make me angry or upset. Not one single team goes without some whiffs in the draft. We do better than most, on the whole. I like our direction, I’ll let the pros do their jobs. 

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59 minutes ago, Niagara Dude said:

Still pissed we took Ford over this future HOF player

 

if you wear yellow pants it will not be so noticeable. 

A whole wardrobe would work well.

28 minutes ago, Augie said:

 

DK could fly by the HOF, but at the time nobody was sure if he could turn into the parking lot.  :)

 

I get that hindsight is perfect, but this picture is yet to be fully formed. We still don’t know what Ford will be, but I’ll try to be hopeful.

 

Regardless, I won’t let regrets make me angry or upset. Not one single team goes without some whiffs in the draft. We do better than most, on the whole. I like our direction, I’ll let the pros do their jobs. 

 

But @Niagara Dude could be the next Matt Millen hopefully working for an AFCE rival.

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You do realize that he finished last in a qualifying heat.


You do realize that he was not running in the USA Olympic Trials, but that he finished last in a qualifying heat (not the finals) against a field of runners who were attempting to gain entrance into the U.S.A. Olympic Trials (where the USA Olympic entrants will be determined.)

 

What it all means is that he ran dead last in a low-level race full of wannabes, who were attempting to secure a spot in a further race, in order to secure a spot in a further race in order to secure a spot in a further race in order to secure a spot in a further race in order to secure a spot in the Olympics where somebody from Jamaica, or Trinidad, or Timbuktu will embarrass them.

It is fortunate, for Metcalf, that he did not qualify for further fields of runners where he would be totally humiliated.  

He is a very fast football player.

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Yes, in hindsight it would be fun to have him, but at the time if the draft, Metcalf was considered a raw talent.  He could’ve flamed out as much as he ended up doing well.  I don’t think we know yet what we have in Ford.

 

Ford was bounced around in 2019, and ######ed his development.  If we drafted him for a tackle position, that was a mistake.  He’s a Guard.  After 2021, given he stays healthy and is asked simply to be the left guard, we’ll see if he can be the best at that spot.  If so, we have a young Guard for awhile.  If not, he was a bust and we move on or relegate him as a permanent backup role.

 

In the end, we have Diggs, and Davis for a long time, Beasely for a couple of years, and Sanders is a nice pieces to plug a hole for this year.

 

As far as his tryout, I’m happy he tried, and even if he didn’t go far, at least he pursued a dream.  There’s nothing wrong with that one.  Remember when Carl Lewis wanted to see if he could play in the NFL.  The Cowboys drafted him in the 12th round, but never played.  

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Pretty cool that he even did this. Just another excuse to talk about how badly teams overthought him as a prospect; was one of the easier WR evaluations of the past few years IMO (at least on the field; obviously no idea what these teams might have seen in his medicals).

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10 hours ago, Stranded in Boston said:

"Bullet" Bob Hayes ran a 10.06 at the 1964 Olympics, tying the world record at the time. He played football and ran track at Florida A&M, and went on to have a great 10-year NFL career, culminating in election to HOF in 2009. Of course, he was also 45 lbs. lighter than DK!

 

 

That's insane.....60 years ago!

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1 hour ago, DCOrange said:

Pretty cool that he even did this. Just another excuse to talk about how badly teams overthought him as a prospect; was one of the easier WR evaluations of the past few years IMO (at least on the field; obviously no idea what these teams might have seen in his medicals).

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Hill_(American_football) 

 

Thats why...  Both had crazy good workouts, and not a ton of field production.  

 

But him being the 9th one selected is still a bit shocking tho.

Edited by dneveu
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15 hours ago, billsfan89 said:

Track is way different type of running and a different type of training regime needed. It is an impressive feat for DK at his size with very little if any of that training was able to beat out 2 other track athletes who had been training for that event presumably for years. 

Very true.  Track athletes and football players train differently and develop different muscles to maximize different kinds of performance.  The fact that Metcalf can compete with track athletes is impressive.  But if he wants to go to the Olympics, he's going to have to spend a lot of train retraining his body, and that time and that training will detract from his football performance.   

 

It's never been clear how much Goodwin's devotion to track limited his football development, but it at least made a little sense in his case, because his primary football advantage came from his speed.   Metcalf combines size, strength, and speed, and elite track training will make less competitive on the football field in other ways.   For example, while Metcalf is training for track, he will do nothing at all to develop the deceleration muscles that give Diggs is remarkable escapability.  

 

It's overused, but Metcalf is a freak. 

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Speaking of football speed vs track speed (and doing it in a way that doesn't encourage a 20 page re-litigation of passing on Metcalf):

Marquez Stevenson appears to be a great example of having football speed, as opposed to track speed. I believe he ran a 4.45 forty, which certainly isn't slow, but also doesn't match what we typically see from him on a football field. He claims he usually runs in the 4.3s, of course (don't they all). In any event, he seems to have a second gear that often sees him pulling away from the nearest defender and widening the gap until he seems to be 10-15 yards clear of everybody on the opposing team.

In Stevenson's case, the 40 time and his lack of college track background do not seem to be indicative of a lack of rare speed. We'll see if this keeps up now that he's playing in a league where there are tons and tons of fast guys playing defense, too.

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