Question About the Vertical Leap at 2008 Combine (1 Viewer)

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

Not sure why I didn't notice this before, but most of the worst vertical leaps ever recorded for WRs at the combine are from 2008.

And digging just little bit the annual average is consistently right around 36" (35.72" to 36.46"), but 2008's average WR vert is 31.92". No way that's right.

Does anyone remember anything about some sort of problem with the vertical measurements that year? The Google machine doesn't turn up anything obvious.

 

[GregR]

Temporary strengthening of gravity due to the Mayan Calendar?

 

[ZWK]

That is odd. A quick check of the data here suggests that it wasn't just WRs - players at every position had bad verticals in 2008 (about 3 inches lower, across the board). No obvious differences from other years on any of the other drills.

 

[ConnSKINS26]

That is really, really strange. Definitely worth looking into if just for curiosity's sake.

 

[lbouchard]

After a quick glance through of the draft that year, is it just too easy to say the WRs sucked that year?

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

After a quick glance through of the draft that year, is it just too easy to say the WRs sucked that year?

Yes. The vertical leaps are just so consistent from year to year -- it's just not plausible they suddenly dropped by 10%. Especially since ZWK says it's true at other positions too.

 

[BuckeyeArt]

Not sure why I didn't notice this before, but most of the worst vertical leaps ever recorded for WRs at the combine are from 2008.

And digging just little bit the annual average is consistently right around 36" (35.72" to 36.46"), but 2008's average WR vert is 31.92". No way that's right.

Does anyone remember anything about some sort of problem with the vertical measurements that year? The Google machine doesn't turn up anything obvious.

I remember discussing it at the time. From what I remember, it was in the 2-3" range. I think there was a thread about it.Here it is:

Link

It was about 2.5 inches. Here are the averages of the preceding 5 years:

Averages

 

[JetMaxx]

I've heard that its the easiest test to "fudge" because they start the measurement at the height you can reach outstretched. Change your posture in order to make it appear that you are reaching as far as you can and you can positively impact your vertical numbers.

 

[Ashem]

I've heard that its the easiest test to "fudge" because they start the measurement at the height you can reach outstretched. Change your posture in order to make it appear that you are reaching as far as you can and you can positively impact your vertical numbers.

Yup. Tuck in your shoulder a bit or make a few other changes during the initial measurement. I think that year the guys measuring were a lot stricter and didn't allow any little tricks, which resulted in lower scores.