The 40-yard dash seems to be the integral measure of a player’s draft stock at a skill position these days and Steve Savoy did not capitalize on his 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine, which hosts scouts from every team in the country.
His 4.65-second 40-yard dash was below his expected speed and his draft stock slipped. Monday morning at the U pro day, Savoy had another chance to prove his critics wrong, but he did not capitalize.
“I ran a 4.6 again,” Savoy said. “It’s so frustrating when you know you aren’t lazy and you are working hard on it.”
The field surface in the Eccles Field House is nearly identical to the one used in Rice-Eccles Stadium, but it is not great for showcasing speed.
“At the combine I was really nervous and here the track isn’t good for a lot of speed,” Savoy said.
Besides the speed factor, which is a very big factor, Savoy did well at both the combine and Monday’s pro day. “I didn’t drop a pass in the catching drills at the combine and was fine today,” Savoy said.
Savoy’s draft stock has fallen ever since his 40-yard dash time at the combine and says he is projected as a third or fourth round pick.
Savoy’s counterpart last season, Paris Warren was also at the pro day, but after impressing at the combine with a 4.5 40-yard dash time, Warren didn’t need to do much at the pro day.
I ran the 40 again but I didn’t even look at my time,” Warren said. “Right now I have heard that I could go anywhere from a second round pick to a fourth round pick. I haven’t heard later than fourth round though.”
Warren was not known to be the gamebreaker last year, as Savoy caught most of the deep balls. But in the strange world of timed performances, Warren ran the faster 40-time.
Savoy will have another chance to prove himself next Wednesday, as the U has another pro day, where Alex Smith will be showcased. Savoy will run the 40 again at the event. With the high profile Smith is carrying these days, a vast number of scouts will probably show up next week, so Savoy has a chance to show all the scouts that the combine time was a fluke.
“I am at about 192 [lbs] right now, so I may try to drop down to about 189-190 and just work on my speed,” Savoy said. “I want to get it to a 4.5 or in the 4.4s. I am really looking at the 4.4s.”
A decrease in time for Savoy would lead to an increase in his draft stock and he really only has one major chance to prove he is fast enough to be picked in the first day of the NFL Draft.