Raiders GM Mike Mayock hinted that Damon Arnette may have run better than a 4.56 forty at the combine. That led to a little investigative project earlier on Thursday.
Did Arnette run closer to the 4.43 that Raider scouts apparently clocked him at?
Thanks to Raider Cody, we have a slow-motion image of Arnette leaving the line. It looks like he may have lost around a tenth before he even crossed the line.
Every runner loses a fraction of a second on the line (that’s why players hate the electronic times), but .14 seems like a lot of time spent to get only a dreadlock over the line.
At this point, it’s safe to say that Arnette is faster than his combine run, but there are plenty of other questions around the Raiders’ no. 19 pick. Mayock acknowledged that the Raiders probably drafted him sooner than they needed to, which by definition makes the pick a bit of a reach. But fortunately for everyone involved, draft position won’t mean anything when the pads go on. All that will matter when football starts again is whether or not Arnette can play.
If all goes as planned, both Mayock and Arnette will prove a lot of doubters wrong in the years ahead.
But first things first… got to prove that clock at the combine didn’t get it right, either.
twitter: @raidersbeat
Like I said all along the RAIDER got who they wanted and that all they care about who cares what the so called expect say look what they said about are draft last year and look what happened..
Can’t wait until he proves ALL the doubters wrong!! #20Damonarnette #RaidersNation #Netway
Like I posted earlier…. it was at the 20 yard marker where he jerked his head up from the 65 degree body hold to the 85 degrees and flat footed his left step, almost like maybe a small twinge in his hammy… Look at it and see for yourself. And yes, he is MUCH faster than 4.56 and NO I don’t think that he was a reach.