Buccaneers need to be wary of single stat for draft picks

While the NFL has become a game of numbers in recent years, focusing too much on individual numbers without context is dangerous for the Buccaneers.

Prepare yourselves. The 2022 NFL Scouting Combine is almost upon us. Teams like the Buccaneers will use this as a chance to see who they can bring in to keep their roster in competition for the playoffs, and fans and social media will key in on one event above all others; the 40-yard dash.

For some reason over the past few years, a guy’s 40-time has become something that everyone and their mother cares about above all else. We saw this on display with Tristan Wirfs.

Wirfs put together an amazing combine showcasing a wide variety of NFL-ready skills, but the one area that most people focused on was his incredible 4.85 speed. Sure, this is impressive when you look at position and weight, but this does not matter in his projection to be a star in the NFL.

No one during the past two seasons has looked at Wirfs and thought that his speed is what makes him an All-Pro, yet we are sure to see that video more than once on social media in the days leading up to the start of the events.

The box jump out of the pool was far more impressive and was actually far more relevant to his position, but I digress.

Even with positions where speed matters more, 40-yard dash time matters very little in regards to how successful guys will be in the NFL. Receivers like John Ross pop up every season, but what is he doing now?

The Bucs don’t have any burners on their offense right now and that seemed to work fine en route to winning the Super Bowl. The reason why is that the receivers were excellent at the skills that mattered more; catching, jumping, separating, changing directions, etc.

As the social media personalities lose their minds over a single aspect of certain players’ games this upcoming week, Buccaneers fans should know from experience that the 40-yard dash time is never the end-all.

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