I try not to take recruiting too seriously but I've never seen so much angst over a 40 time and I just have to comment on it. Another site found Washington's recent 4.79 time to be so alarming that they just dropped him 500 spots in their national rankings. I have no special attachment to Washington (I actually prefer Milton Wright) but he's a good player who has been totally misjudged by a single time.
To put things in perspective, Washington ran his 4.79 at the Elite 11 qualifier in Nashville in April. The weather that day was miserable -- cold and rainy. Many of the other top WRs in attendance (such as Lance Wilhoite, Jameson Williams and Trey Knox) refused to run. Washington did run and ended up with the highest SPARQ of any WR there that day.
To understand just how much the weather can affect a 40 time look at Max Duggan. He ran a 4.76 that day in Nashville and decided to give it another go two weeks later at the Canton Elite 11 qualifier. It was 75 and sunny that day in Canton and Duggan ran a 4.58, shaving almost .2 seconds off his Nashville time. Had Washington opted to attend the Canton qualifier instead of Nashville and run a 4.59 there would be a very different evaluation of him by some of the "experts". I think I'll do what I always do and let Meyer and Pantoni and company pick the guys they want. And if they want Washington then I'll be very happy to get him.
To put things in perspective, Washington ran his 4.79 at the Elite 11 qualifier in Nashville in April. The weather that day was miserable -- cold and rainy. Many of the other top WRs in attendance (such as Lance Wilhoite, Jameson Williams and Trey Knox) refused to run. Washington did run and ended up with the highest SPARQ of any WR there that day.
To understand just how much the weather can affect a 40 time look at Max Duggan. He ran a 4.76 that day in Nashville and decided to give it another go two weeks later at the Canton Elite 11 qualifier. It was 75 and sunny that day in Canton and Duggan ran a 4.58, shaving almost .2 seconds off his Nashville time. Had Washington opted to attend the Canton qualifier instead of Nashville and run a 4.59 there would be a very different evaluation of him by some of the "experts". I think I'll do what I always do and let Meyer and Pantoni and company pick the guys they want. And if they want Washington then I'll be very happy to get him.
