Good Portis stuff from Washington Times blog

[freddyg12]

Originally Posted by JoeRedskin

Well, true and not. EVERYBODY slows down. So the slow guys at the combine are still going to be the slow guys a couple years later. True, while the fastest guys will probably suffer the biggest drop off, the slower guys speed will still erode.

I agree that straight line 40 times are vastly overrated (Donte Stallworth anyone?). When Terrell Sugg's draft ranking dropped based on his 40 time, his comment was "How many yard is it from the DE to the QB - probably less than 40" (I am paraphrasing).

With all that said, however, you can't teach speed. In the pro game, speed is an advantage and slow players aren't going to get faster as they get older.
Some players, as they adapt to the game may "play faster" as they learn to play intuitively rather than have to think about what's going on. The really good players, however, have both the natural ability of speed and the learned ability to play intuitively. Slower players can only make up so much ground by "playing fast".

well put. My guess is that GT was trying to say some of the same things; that the 40 time can be misleading. I think it makes the most sense for wr's, since they actually run some st. line routes.

Speed has definitely changed the game, especially on defenses. Coaches are more willing to blitz because there are so many fast players at LB & DB. The concept of "team speed" seemed to come into vogue in the 90s. Hate to say it, but Jimmy Johnson & the cowpokes epitomized it, as his teams were a lot like his U teams that were built around speed.