The NFL combine’s 40-yard dash tracker is an impressive feat of standardized technology that can accurately record the times of each participant.
Unless, apparently, it pertains to a top prospect who timed out slower than expected.
ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter drew criticism Sunday while reporting the 40-yard dash time for Ohio State wide receiver Carnell Tate, citing the slightly more favorable numbers measured by NFL teams over the underwhelming official mark given by the league.
Tate, 21, finished within the 4.45-4.47 range according to a batch of NFL executives and GMs, according to Schefter, which differed considerably from his official time of 4.52.
“Ohio State WR Carnell Tate, a potential top 10 pick, was timed by several NFL executives and GMs on Saturday with a 40 time in the range of 4.45-4.47 seconds,” Schefter posted to X Sunday morning.
“Although the combine registers official times, teams always conduct their own timing, and those measurements with some teams were lower than his clocked 4.52.”
Some social media users were quick to heckle Schefter, joking that he must’ve been appealing to Tate’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, by giving the disappointing time a positive spin.
Others criticized the insider for embracing team-measured times over the league’s official mark, which utilizes a standardized, sensor-based process to track every single participant.
It’s unclear where Schefter received the information, and it’s possible he received corroborating measurements from several teams that, to him, sculpted a compelling story.
However, and perhaps most notably, Schefter didn’t report any similar cases regarding the team-measured times of other players varying from their official measurements.
That’s not to say those discrepancies don’t exist — or that Tate’s numbers didn’t reflect a sizable gap between teams and the league.
But it’s certainly curious that the only publicized case surrounds a presumed top 10 pick who fell below expectations.
