No matter what he clocks in the 40, LenDale has pad speed or game speed or whatever you want to call it. DBs do not catch him from behind very often, and he accelerates very quickly-- excellent burst for any size back.
Which makes me wonder, why don't the NFL scouts make the players run the 40 in full gear? Some players have more pad speed and play faster on the field.......
I agree, but NFL gear is so customized. Can you get everyone the best gear they need to play the fastest for combine and pro day workouts? That's a big to do. But, maybe at least a helmet and some light shoulder pads would be interesting. Agree.Or for RBs, have them run a sweep, then see a hole and then burst through it.....see how fast they get through.
Really does not matter. In the NFL, you cannot out run the pursuit at the line of scrimmage to get the corner. Running to the outside only goes as fast as your OL and FB get out there and make blocks. Really, running to the outside in the NFL takes patience and blocking, not pure speed. The guy can only go as fast as the hosses in front of him.
Or have them turn a corner and see how fast they get to full speed, kind of like if they're out in the open field.
See above, but this could be interesting. To your point, and I agree, it really does not matter how fast you can go from 0-60, if you will, but how quickly you can accelerate going from making a read on a block or a cut, and then exploding into the open field and pulling away. I would be interested in something like this, but it would be difficult to control and compare players
I would think these kind of "drills" would answer questions of a RB's true speed and quickness.