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Scouting the Draft: Dontay Moch, Part 2: Speed

I think certain tests Draft prospects get are overrated by talent evaluators. Football is played in games on a football field with pads, not in track and field drills in shorts. Drills can test things like athleticism, but there needs to be some context. Take the 40 yard dash. A guy playing in the WAC might look fast on film, but putting him in a 40 can test whether he really is fast or whether his competition was just really slow. It is hardly bullet proof. Terrell Suggs' Draft stock fell after he ran the 40 poorly. Players do not usually run 40 yards in a straight line on a field. A guy who runs a really fast 40, though, has great athleticism.

Dontay Moch is the kind of guy I was talking about. He might look really fast against the average WAC lineman, but that does not necessarily make him fast. The 40 yard dash is an objective drill that can be used to put him in context. He has registered crazy fast times in that. Moch's low is reportedly in the 4.18 range, while he has confirmed 4.2 speed. Those are ridiculously fast numbers for a guy at a speed position like wide receiver. For a guy who played defensive end, it is mind boggling.

Lots of guys have athletic ability but not football skills. Combine top notch production like Moch had at Nevada with his tools, and you have something.