Alright, let’s talk about this Jer’Zhan Newton fella and his 40 time. It’s something I got curious about a while back, probably while I was digging through potential draft picks, you know, just trying to get a feel for the guys coming out.
So, the first thing I usually do is check the official Combine results. That’s the standard, right? Went online, pulled up the lists for his year. Scrolled through the defensive tackles. Found his name. Looked across the row for that 40-yard dash number. Sometimes it’s right there, plain as day. Other times, guys don’t run, maybe they’re injured or just opt out.
Checking the Usual Spots
I remember specifically looking for Newton’s time. It wasn’t immediately jumping out at me in the main Combine results I saw initially. Okay, sometimes that happens. Maybe he ran it, but it wasn’t widely reported right away, or maybe he didn’t participate in that specific drill at the Combine.
My next step, typically, is to look for Pro Day results. Universities host these events, and players get another shot at drills. So, I started searching around for University of Illinois Pro Day coverage from when Newton was there. This can be trickier. Pro Day times aren’t always as “official” or universally listed as Combine times. You rely on reports from scouts who were there, news articles covering the event.
- Searched news archives for Illinois Pro Day reports.
- Looked at scouting websites and forums where people share notes.
- Tried different search terms, like “Newton pro day 40 time,” “Illinois defensive tackle speed,” stuff like that.
What I Gathered (or Didn’t)
Honestly, finding a concrete, universally agreed-upon 40 time for him during that initial search phase was a bit of a runaround. You see different numbers pop up sometimes, maybe unofficial hand times from the Pro Day, or sometimes nothing solid at all. It reminds me of trying to find stats for lower-league baseball players back in the day before everything was online – lots of digging, sometimes you hit a dead end.
What I did focus on, because the straight-line speed number was elusive or maybe just not the main story for him, was watching his actual game tape again. For an interior defensive lineman like Newton, that first step, the burst off the snap, how he moves side-to-side – that often tells you more than a 40 time anyway.
My Takeaway on His Speed
Watching him, you see the quickness. He’s got that initial burst. He disrupts things fast. Does he have track star speed? Probably not, he’s a big dude playing inside. But does he have functional football speed for his position? Absolutely. You see it in how he penetrates, how he closes down angles.
So, while I started out trying to pin down that specific 40 number, my process ended up shifting back to just evaluating his game speed. Sometimes the numbers are useful, sometimes they aren’t the whole picture. For Newton, what I saw on tape felt more important than whatever stopwatch number might be floating around. That’s usually how it goes when you really get down to evaluating players – the tape doesn’t lie, even if finding one specific testing number takes some effort or turns up fuzzy.
