One of the biggest knocks on newly-added Raiders CB Damon Arnette was (and still is) the 4.56 forty time he ran at the NFL combine.
The Raiders, however, believe Arnette is much faster than what he showed at the combine. Or more accurately, they believe he actually ran faster than the electronic time that was given to him at the combine.
Appearing on SiriusXM NFL’s Movin’ the Chains radio show, Raiders’ GM Mike Mayock said his scouts all had Arnette clocked well below 4.56 in Indianapolis.
“The slowest time we had on him from our scouts was 4.43 at the combine,” Mayock told Movin’ the Chains hosts Pat Kirwan and Jim Miller. “He plays that way to us. That didn’t surprise me at all… we’re looking for competitive kids and when you put the tape on I defy you to find a more competitive corner anywhere in the country.”
For whatever reason, teams still sometimes like to fall back on their hand-clocked times instead of the computer generated times at the combine. The better explanation for Arnette’s time would probably be that he simply didn’t run a great time, but he’s capable of better. It’s been said that Arnette may have been dealing with nagging injuries at the combine – which would also explain his sub-par time.
Whatever the case, the Raiders aren’t buying Arnette’s 4.56 in Indianapolis and say the film shows that he plays faster than that anyway. Richard Sherman ran a 4.56 forty at the 2011 combine and he turned out alright, so there’s a place in the NFL for cornerbacks without elite speed. Nevertheless, with all the speed at receiver in the AFC West, it seems logical for the Raiders to go the conventional route and draft corners with speed in the first round.
Fortunately for Mayock and the gang, Arnette apparently had a top speed better than Terry McLaurin a few years ago at Ohio State. You can bet that didn’t happen running a 4.56 forty.
twitter: @raidersbeat
Mayock is turning out to be pretty lame, time will tell.
Mayock is turning out to be a bum this is the pros not college.
You guys are not very bright! Mayock did great last year. Time will tell this year
what exactly does it mean that our scouts had him at 4.43 in Indy? Isn’t 4.56 a laser time, not leaving much to debate