Jimmyisgod

February 21st, 2015 at 10:53 AM ^

Measured at 6-4, 232.  He's either the smallest TE in the NFL or the slowest WR in the NFL.

I remember reading about the 4.33 he supposedly ran too, didn't seem realistic, but a lot of people believed it.  If he was our 2nd fastest player, that explains a lot.  At 4.70 and 232 lbs he'll be slower and smaller than most any OLB who is covering him in the NFL, that's not good.

Hope he does well in the other drills and still goes in the 1st two rounds.

Lanknows

February 21st, 2015 at 11:42 AM ^

Include Kelvin Benjamin (1st round) and Allen Robinson (2nd Round) who ran a 4.6. Jarvis Landry was at nearly 4.8 and he got drafted in the 2nd Round.

This is far from a death blow for Funchess given his size.

He has good speed for a TE.  Only 3 TEs ran better than 4.7 last year.

He does not have great speed for a WR.  Anyone who watched Michigan football and is surprised by this is not especially observant.  The number of high end cornerbacks Funchess blew by last year is closer to zero than 10. 

It's true there has been some talk of him being a first rounder but that always felt overstated, as did the talk of Zak Irvin or Caris LeVert as NBA lottery picks FWIW.

LSAClassOf2000

February 21st, 2015 at 10:49 AM ^

For perspective, that is in fact the worst time (unofficial, I believe, for the moment) among those WRs with times recorded. The top of the list to date is Phillip Dorsett from Miami (4.33), Chris Conley (4.35) and Kenny Bell (4.40).

umfan323

February 21st, 2015 at 11:03 AM ^

We had starting WR running a 4.7 and now you see why the passing game sucked and we couldn't get open.. I expect the passing game to be along the same lines this year because the WR we have on the roster aren't quick or fast

In reply to by umfan323

Gobgoblue

February 21st, 2015 at 11:29 AM ^

Will be more about separation and PA than speed. Also if Funchess were given more opportunities to use his height he may have fared better. Unfortunately, he was basically treated as a slot receiver when it came to play calls.

SysMark

February 21st, 2015 at 11:10 AM ^

When you factor in his dubious blocking and pass catching skills he could end up way down. He maybe could have done himself some good with a year of Harbaugh.  Doesn't matter now.

TheDirtyD

February 21st, 2015 at 11:11 AM ^

His lack of willingness to take a hit, poor attitude and taking plays off will determine his ultimate destiny. A savy hard working WR at his size can carve out a niche in the NFL. Mike Evans isn't that fast either but had a much better work ethic.

MgoRayO3313

February 21st, 2015 at 12:12 PM ^

This is true. One could make the argument based on game film that at times he didn't look to go a 100%. But if would be difficult to suggest that he was scared to get hit. Most balls were way behind him or way in front of him. Would have liked to have seen him do better tracking the balls way in front of him but most of Gardner's passes were death sentences for our receivers. Gardner's best pass was just a jump ball. Even that was bad in '14.



Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

taistreetsmyhero

February 21st, 2015 at 11:15 AM ^

The fact that the nfl still uses a 40 yard dash to assess and obsess over prospects' speed is a testament to how little common sense matters. There's gotta be a margin of error around 0.2 on those runs.



Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

Erik_in_Dayton

February 21st, 2015 at 11:18 AM ^

It took a long time for Funchess to unfold his big body and get going. More time spent running track might have fixed that to some extent, but he's not going to be using the track stance during games.

MGoStrength

February 21st, 2015 at 11:20 AM ^

I think this is another example of why the NFL Combine is not a good indicator of whether a guy will be a good NFL football player or not.  If you watch Devin play football he looks fast. He's never had a problem running away from a defender or getting open.  But, this closed skill test says he's slow.  He's not slow (even for an NFL reciever), he's just not good at this particular test.  Why anyone would consider tests like this over game film and watching a guy play the game is beyond me.

ghostofhoke

February 22nd, 2015 at 3:09 AM ^

That's not even close to the case. Maybe a cadre of blind homers on this board but that's about it. There are plenty of people who actually watched his play with a critical eye this year and don't think anything like that was justified. Now he's proving that's the case



Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad