Mark Clayton and Torrey Smith

**PurpleApocalypse37** · 02-21-2013, 06:33 PM

Torrey Smith ran a 4.43 40 yard dash. Mark Clayton ran a 4.41.

How does that happen? Watching them on the field, Torrey Smith looks 10 times faster. Torrey looks like he runs a sub 4.3, but Clayton looked like he ran a 4.5 or so. He was barely any faster than an old Derrick Mason.

**4G63** · 02-21-2013, 06:38 PM

I've always thought 40 yard dash numbers can be misleading for WR's. Jerry Rice ran a 4.71 and I don't think that ended up hurting him.

**The Excellector** · 02-21-2013, 06:41 PM

You can actually train specifically for the 40 yard dash, in somewhat similar fashion to a track meet. Stories are often told of players who specifically mold their running technique to gain a faster time in the dash. However, that doesn't nearly translate to the football field as much.

There are more variables in play, on the field: The pads, the contact, etc.

**jonboy79** · 02-21-2013, 06:43 PM

it could easily jsut be that Torrey Smith is a poor starter in that scenario. As was jsut said, it's sort of like track training to get off to a good start.

**The Excellector** · 02-21-2013, 06:45 PM

Torrey's specialty seems to be his acceleration more than his pure speed.

**lobachevsky** · 02-21-2013, 07:02 PM

Originally Posted by The Excellector

Torrey's specialty seems to be his acceleration more than his pure speed.

:word How many time have we seen Torrey seemingly blanketed by a secondary when he kicks in the overdrive & blows right past them? And once the DBs learn from bitter experience & give that top gear the respect it deserves, all the underneath routes open up.

**RavenScallywag** · 02-21-2013, 07:07 PM

Jerry Rice, suprisingly, was talking about the 40 times today at the Combine (according to Scott and Jeremy). Said that taking a 40 time isn't a good indicator of things like "can a WR beat a jam off the line and accelerate downfield to get open?"

With Torrey, you can see that he has a tremendous 2nd gear. He'll be running full speed, spot the ball in the air, and suddenly his speed jumps to catch up to the ball.

You also have to remember...Clayton with Joe only was 2008 and 2009. Those were the prime years of the Cam-cuffs, Joe wasn't doing anything like he is now with Torrey. That's not to say that Torrey isn't a superior WR, but I don't think you can showcase Clayton's speed as much when Joe's passes were mostly out patterns.

**PurpleApocalypse37** · 02-21-2013, 07:16 PM

Originally Posted by RavenScallywag

Jerry Rice, suprisingly, was talking about the 40 times today at the Combine (according to Scott and Jeremy). Said that taking a 40 time isn't a good indicator of things like "can a WR beat a jam off the line and accelerate downfield to get open?"

With Torrey, you can see that he has a tremendous 2nd gear. He'll be running full speed, spot the ball in the air, and suddenly his speed jumps to catch up to the ball.

You also have to remember...Clayton with Joe only was 2008 and 2009. Those were the prime years of the Cam-cuffs, Joe wasn't doing anything like he is now with Torrey. That's not to say that Torrey isn't a superior WR, but I don't think you can showcase Clayton's speed as much when Joe's passes were mostly out patterns.

Good point. To be honest, it would be very interesting to see how Mark Clayton circa 2005/2006 would fare in this offense next year. Though it's pretty inexplicable how he got washed up after two seasons.

**RavenScallywag** · 02-21-2013, 07:19 PM

He had a pretty horrid knee injury. Broken patella. It's pretty gruesome to google it...

**leachisabeast** · 02-21-2013, 07:19 PM

Originally Posted by RavenScallywag

Jerry Rice, suprisingly, was talking about the 40 times today at the Combine (according to Scott and Jeremy). Said that taking a 40 time isn't a good indicator of things like "can a WR beat a jam off the line and accelerate downfield to get open?"

With Torrey, you can see that he has a tremendous 2nd gear. He'll be running full speed, spot the ball in the air, and suddenly his speed jumps to catch up to the ball.

You also have to remember...Clayton with Joe only was 2008 and 2009. Those were the prime years of the Cam-cuffs, Joe wasn't doing anything like he is now with Torrey. That's not to say that Torrey isn't a superior WR, but I don't think you can showcase Clayton's speed as much when Joe's passes were mostly out patterns.

Very true.

There are hardly any easy throws for Joe under Cam, but that also worked both ways for the WRs, there were barely any easy routes to run in Cams offense either, no easy catches, no nothing.

**HoustonRaven** · 02-21-2013, 07:20 PM

Originally Posted by PurpleApocalypse37

Good point. To be honest, it would be very interesting to see how Mark Clayton circa 2005/2006 would fare in this offense next year. Though it's pretty inexplicable how he got washed up after two seasons.

It's totally explainable.

He shredded is patellar tendon.

**PurpleApocalypse37** · 02-21-2013, 07:24 PM

Originally Posted by HoustonRaven

It's totally explainable.

He shredded is patellar tendon.

Weird, I don't remember much about that. How many games did he miss? I remember him getting so much hate, which shouldn't have happened if he had a bad injury. Are you talking about the injury while on the Rams?