Shore Things: Seahawks drafted 3 of the 25-fastest players at 2022 combine
Update on Jordyn Brooks' timeline, Seattle's pre-draft visit with safety, and Anthony Richardson's potential biggest hurdle: 4/3/2023
Basketball was invented in Massachusetts. Baseball (as we know it) was invented in New York. Volleyball, snowboarding, skateboarding, and ultimate frisbee—American-invented sports. But of the super-profitable American sports at least, nothing in this country compares to football—which like baseball was not entirely invented locally, rather transformed out of a British game—and I think I know the reason for it.
Baseball is a global sport. Basketball is a global sport. Soccer is the sport that America is constantly trying to catch up to on a worldwide scale and falling short. But try as Roger Goodell might to turn the NFL into an international powerhouse, with recent rumors suggesting that the league could expand into a European division within 10 years, professional American football is only dominant in America.
And it is REALLY, REALLY dominant.
Whether Americans are cognizant of that or not, I think the “This is our thing” culture of football—which doesn’t really translate anymore in baseball and basketball—does help create a stronger bond between fans and the NFL. It’s a theory, nothing more, but perhaps it would also explain why so many of the great quotes I know are from football figures.
“When you’re good at something, you’ll tell everyone. When you’re great at something, they’ll tell you.” — Walter Payton
“Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing” — UCLA football coach Red Sanders
“It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog” — Archie Griffin
I know, I know…John Wooden. Yogi Berra. It’s not only people who played or coached football who say memorable things that get repeated. But NFL players and coaches do have quite a few of the MODERN quotes too like, “You play to win the game” and… “I’m just here so I don’t get fined.”
The quote book from players, coaches, and executives is endless, but one person who stood near the top—perhaps because like any great character on TV, he knew what he was known for and gave the people what he wanted—was Raiders owner Al Davis. What Davis was known for above all else?
Speed.
Not the drug. Uhh…the concept.
Using the Stat Index Tool on Pro-Football-Reference.com, I lined up the fastest players in the 40-yard dash from 2000-2010 and there were seven players who broke 4.3 at the NFL Scouting Combine. Al Davis drafted three of them: Fabian Washington, Stanford Routt, and Jacoby Ford. Four more cracked the top-25, including first round picks Darrius Heyward-Bey and Phillip Buchannon.
Hunter S. Thompson attributed this quote to Al Davis: “Speed kills. You can't teach speed. Everything else in the game can be taught, but speed is a gift from God.”
Pete Carroll must be a religious man.
Yes, Seattle famously stole the best bargain in the 2022 NFL Draft by taking a flier on the worst-kept secret of the entire class: Tariq Woolen had a questionable resume as a WR-CB convert who played for small school UTSA, but his 4.26 40-yard dash and 42” vertical at 6’4, 205 lbs made it impossible for him to fly under the radar. If you look at literally any player over 6’1 since 2000, Woolen’s 4.26 is the fastest, but his 42” vertical is also a top-15 mark.
The issue being that despite rarely-matched athleticism (sorry to the Anthony Richardson people out there), guys with Woolen’s resume rarely work in the NFL unless they proved it on a football field in college. Tariq Woolen is not an example of poor evaluation by teams, but an exception to a rather well-proven rule.
Woolen is an amazing 6’4, 200 lbs athlete. Is he more amazing than Obi Melifonwu, a 224 lb defensive back coming out of UConn in 2017 who was a second round pick (….of THE RAIDERS) but only managed 54 career defensive snaps in the league? Is Woolen a better athlete than Chris Conley, a third round pick of the Chiefs in 2015 who ran 4.35 at 6’2, 213 lbs but despite some good numbers as a receiver could not even prove exceptional with Patrick Mahomes as his quarterback?
The Seahawks drafting Woolen and getting lucky should not compel the Seahawks to look for the next ‘Tariq Woolen’ anymore than winning the lottery should compel somebody to expect another jackpot ticket in the future. Or flipping a coin and getting heads ten times in a row, it doesn’t change the odds of the next coin flip.
Still, Seattle might continue to favor speed because Woolen wasn’t the only example in the Seahawks 2022 draft class who tipped the times in his favor:
Seventh round pick Bo Melton had the ninth-fastest time at the combine, running a 4.34 at 5’11, 189 lbs, the fifth-fastest at his position. Second round running back Ken Walker III ran a 4.38 at 5’9, 211 lbs, the fifth-fastest running back; seventh round steal Isiah Pacheco, for what it’s worth, led the group with a 4.37 at 5’10, 216 lbs.
That’s three of the 25-fastest players at the 2022 combine, while second rounder Boye Mafe’s 4.53 40-yard dash at 261 lbs was a top-10 mark for players who weighed at least 235 and put him in the same company as Travon Walker, the number one overall pick who ran 4.51 at 272.
We know that in order to make the NFL, you have to be bigger, faster, stronger than even college football players who are relatively bigger, faster, and stronger than above-average humans. It’s “not the size” of the dog, right?
But I have a dog. And I know what dogs he can fight and which ones I’ll keep him away from (all dogs). I love the fight in Clark, but we’re not stupid. Cats, Clark… You can fight cats.
Even within that framework of NFL players being unusually gifted, there’s another order of traits that make certain players in the top 5-percent of traits. Woolen is one of those players. Walker is one of those players. Rashaad Penny was one of those players on the Seahawks. There’s a good chance that by the end of the 2023 draft, we’re going to see one or two more of those guys in Seattle.
The four-fastest cornerbacks at the 2023 combine who measured at least 6’1 were Emmanuel Forbes (6’1, 166 lbs, 4.35), Darius Rush (6’2, 198, 4.36), Kelee Ringo (6’2, 207, 4.36), and Christian Gonzalez (6’1, 197, 4.38), with Gonzalez expected to go early and Forbes, Ringo potentially pushing for late first round. Rush, also a WR convert and one who has 33.5” arms, is probably going to get tagged with some of those “Woolen???” comps.
But we must keep in mind that exceptions are exceptions. Rush could be a day two pick.
At receivers who are at least 6’1, Bryce Ford-Wheaton of West Virginia (6’4, 221 lbs, 4.38, 41” vert) also drew a lot of attention at the combine but hasn’t seen it raise his stock in the media much since then. BFW had 62 catches for 675 yards and 7 TD last season. Arkansas’s Matt Landers hit 6’4, 200, 4.37 with a 10’10 broad jump and had 901 receiving yards and 19.2 YPC last season.
Of course, Anthony Richardson is being called the most athletic quarterback prospect of all-time…but has yet to be called the most accurate. Georgia edge Nolan Smith, South Carolina corner Cam Smith, Clemson linebacker Trent Simpson, Iowa corner Riley Moss, Ole Miss receiver Jonathan Mingo, Northwestern edge Adetomiwa Adebawore, Wake Forest receiver A.T. Perry, Tennessee edge Byron Young, and Princeton receiver Andrei Iosivas are among others who also checked in on the top-25 for 40-yard dash for players at least 6’1.
Louisville edge YaYa Diaby was 27th overall, but hit 4.51 at 263 lbs.
Among all players and not just tall guys: Michigan CB D.J. Turner was the fastest (4.26), followed by Maryland CB Jakorian Bennett, Texas A&M RB Devon Achane, Nebraska WR Trey Palmer, and Maryland CB Deonte Banks.
“But they are who we thought they were, and we let ‘em off the hook!” - Denny Green
Sometimes as a talent evaluator you don’t overthink it. If there’s an exceptional athlete and you think you can put him in the right position, don’t let him off the hook. Now let’s talk about Jordyn Brooks, himself an elite athlete but will he continue to be that when he returns from ACL surgery?
I’ve got more notes to share in this episode of Shore Things, including a timeline on Jordyn Brooks—one of the fastest players in the 2020 NFL Draft class—and more on Anthony Richardson, a prospect who the Seahawks have a visit scheduled with upcoming, an important note on Jalen Carter’s agent, and what Tyree Wilson being mocked to Seattle at #5 tells us about this upcoming draft class.
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