Interesting winter workout results.

[8timechamps]

Here are a few winter workout testing results that I thought were interesting:

40 yard times:

Roy Finch 4.36
Alex Ross: 4.46
Aaron Franklin: 4.43
Trevor Knight: 4.60
Corey Nelson: 4.65
Geneo Grissom: 4.71
Blake Bell: 4.86


Squat, Bench Press & Clean (total weight)

Geneo Grissom: 1,305
Rashod Favors: 1,265
Aaron Franklin: 1,205
Jordan Wade: 1,135
Corey Nelson: 1,120
Roy Finch: 1,105

Vertical Jump

Sterling Shepard: 37.5"
Trevor Knight: 35.5"
Roy Finch: 35.5"
Trey Franks: 34.5"
Alex Ross: 34.5"
Aaron Franklin: 34"

[BillyBall]

Alex Ross has some impressive numbers.

[cvsooner]

Roy Finch is a strong little dude.

[Boomer.....]

Look at Trevor Knight!

[KantoSooner]

I'm getting excited to see what Alex Ross can do. Dude might surprise a lot of people.

[OkieThunderLion]

"Aaron Franklin: 4.43"

Get him out there!

[swardboy]

It must be an awesome sight to see the Finch do the vertical.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

It would be a better sight to see him play.

[8timechamps]

It would be a better sight to see him play.

I would love to know the story. Other than his relative inability to block in the backfield, I don't understand what is keeping him off the field. I assume it's an effort issue, because there is no question he is a sparkplug.

[OkieThunderLion]

Where did these numbers come from?

[Widescreen]

We need some TrevDozer

[8timechamps]

Where did these numbers come from?

Jake Trotter, SoonerNation.

[SoonerMarkVA]

I would love to know the story. Other than his relative inability to block in the backfield, I don't understand what is keeping him off the field. I assume it's an effort issue, because there is no question he is a sparkplug.

I would love to know, too, because getting to see what he does when he is in there, and seeing numbers like this, makes me more than frustrated that he isn't out there a *lot* more.

[MyT Oklahoma]

It would be a better sight to see him play.

Amen.

[goingoneight]

I would love to know the story. Other than his relative inability to block in the backfield, I don't understand what is keeping him off the field. I assume it's an effort issue, because there is no question he is a sparkplug.

Per Tress Way family (my "source"):
Finch has unique talents and unbelievable natural athleticism; but struggles with confidence, playbook and communication. There's not much time to work on that when push comes to shove during the season and other guys are doing things behind the scenes that he isn't. To quote "it's not his work ethic at all-- he's a beast. He just loses himself and his focus. Other guys playing ahead of him don't."

[rockfromcon]

This!!! Thank you... Drives me nuts that he doesn't touch the ball. But he struggles in pass pro so Gundy has him buried on the depth chart.

[OkieThunderLion]

This!!! Thank you... Drives me nuts that he doesn't touch the ball. But he struggles in pass pro so Gundy has him buried on the depth chart.

He got Landry killed in Stillwater in '11, but average fan puts blame on Jones. He's just a limited guy.

[Ruf/Nek7]

Aaron Frankli is an absolute beast. He is the only dude in each of the 3 categories.

[OkieThunderLion]

Aaron Frankli is an absolute beast. He is the only dude in each of the 3 categories.
Hopefully the categories weren't the leaderboards. Because a 34" vert isn't all that impressive. But you are right, his 40-time was incredible.

[BoomerJ]

I'm a 39 year old white dude. A 34" vert is impressive to me.

I'm not sure that Finch is really that fast and that Bell is that slow.

[MI Sooner]

How do past years' numbers compare to those at the combine (for those who participate)? Are these recruiting-like fake 40s, or real like at the combine?

[One4OU]

I would love to know the story. Other than his relative inability to block in the backfield, I don't understand what is keeping him off the field. I assume it's an effort issue, because there is no question he is a sparkplug.

Per Tress Way family (my "source"):
Finch has unique talents and unbelievable natural athleticism; but struggles with confidence, playbook and communication. There's not much time to work on that when push comes to shove during the season and other guys are doing things behind the scenes that he isn't. To quote "it's not his work ethic at all-- he's a beast. He just loses himself and his focus. Other guys playing ahead of him don't."

Then the coaches should find a better way to utilize him. This is where our coaches have slipped in the last couple years. Great coaches find ways to use great players. It doesnt mean he has to be used all the time but last seasons playing time was a joke if he is that good.

[FaninAma]

I think what hurts Bell is his ability to accelerate. On the long TD run he had last year the DBs were not catching him once he reached high gear.

[OkieThunderLion]

How do past years' numbers compare to those at the combine (for those who participate)? Are these recruiting-like fake 40s, or real like at the combine?

OU doesn't fudge on their numbers. But some guys will get mis-timed. There is a human element.

Stills, Jefferson, and Johnson, all ran exactly what they were doing at OU.

[thecrimsoncrusader]

He got Landry killed in Stillwater in '11, but average fan puts blame on Jones. He's just a limited guy.

What about all of the other countless mistakes that Landry made that was on him? Of course, someone else's fault!

[OkieThunderLion]

What about all of the other countless mistakes that Landry made that was on him? Of course, someone else's fault!

Landy's mistakes are Landry's fault. Immaterial here.

[VA Sooner]

Alex Ross is fast but looking at the numbers... Aaron Franklin, linebacker, is faster.

Hmmm....

[StoopTroup]

It would be a better sight to see him start and be a Heisman Contender.

FIFY :D

[swardboy]

Per Tress Way family (my "source"):
Finch has unique talents and unbelievable natural athleticism; but struggles with confidence, playbook and communication. There's not much time to work on that when push comes to shove during the season and other guys are doing things behind the scenes that he isn't. To quote "it's not his work ethic at all-- he's a beast. He just loses himself and his focus. Other guys playing ahead of him don't."

Sport psychologist anyone? Sounds like a mental block to me.

[SoonerMarkVA]

Sport psychologist anyone? Sounds like a mental block to me.

Yeah, honestly, that makes it sound like a failure of the staff to figure out how to help him. Then again, maybe they've tried what's available and he's a particularly difficult case. Can't tell from here, clearly.

[Tulsa_Fireman]

But is it SEC Speed? I think not.

*duck the beer cans and tomatoes*

[VMG]

It would be a better sight to see him play.

Ain't that the bleeping truth... The offense hasn't exactly been teeming with playmakers recently.

[birddog]

How is finch not used like Q? Did we change our philosophy so much that a guy like finch( yes, it has been rumored he doesn't train as hard as he could) can still hit those kind of numbers And not get his number called 12-15 times a game. I guess I'm askin the profs, what's the difference physically between Q and finch?

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

How is finch not used like Q? Did we change our philosophy so much that a guy like finch( yes, it has been rumored he doesn't train as hard as he could) can still hit those kind of numbers And not get his number called 12-15 times a game. I guess I'm askin the profs, what's the difference physically between Q and finch?

The biggest difference to me is that Finch isn't as elusive as Q was. Remember with Q, we always left someone unblocked at the point of attack that was his responsibility to make miss. He did that by juking them off of their feet, whereas Finch tries to use speed and power to get by people. This means that the blocking schemes that worked for Q don't work for Finch. As a matter of a fact, the running back his style most equates too is Peterson. That wouldn't normally be a big deal, except that blocking style requires precision. This means that at the point of attack we have to go 4 for 4 and overall we have to go 7 out of 9 for more than mediocre gains. We have never been very good at this which is why we end up double teaming so much (and still getting beat but whatever).

[hawaii 5-0]

I'm not sure why they didn't move Finch into the slot from the get-go. Try to get him covered by a LB and let him get some space.

It also relieves him the responsibility of blocking in the backfield.

5-0

[Tulsa_Fireman]

The biggest difference to me is that Finch isn't as elusive as Q was. Remember with Q, we always left someone unblocked at the point of attack that was his responsibility to make miss. He did that by juking them off of their feet, whereas Finch tries to use speed and power to get by people. This means that the blocking schemes that worked for Q don't work for Finch. As a matter of a fact, the running back his style most equates too is Peterson. That wouldn't normally be a big deal, except that blocking style requires precision. This means that at the point of attack we have to go 4 for 4 and overall we have to go 7 out of 9 for more than mediocre gains. We have never been very good at this which is why we end up double teaming so much (and still getting beat but whatever).

Disagree entirely with this. In fact, I couldn't disagree more.

Q was elusive as hell, yes. Oftentimes the "unblocked at the point of attack" wasn't "unblocked at the point of attack", in fact in the majority of instances it wasn't. It was tons and tons of bread and butter sprint draw with zone blocking schemes up front to allow the look for daylight. Most of his downhill stuff was real straight forward, though. But that's not what separated the two.

Roy Finch is elusive as hell. How you make the connection that his running style is similar to Adrian Peterson boggles my mind. He's small, shaky, and slick as hell and yes, he'd be a heartstopper running behind zone blocking and allowing him the chance to go hunting for daylight like they did with Q. HOWEVER, unlike Quentin Griffin, Roy Finch lacks the pure lower body strength to power through initial contact. His game is all about avoiding the contact but once it's there, as strong a kid as he may be, he doesn't have that tree stump thickness and leg pump to get you three more. Electric as hell. But you put him in traffic he simply doesn't have the lead in his *** to get that hard extra yard or two.

NOTHING like AD. More like Q than you'd think, and in some phases, as far as his being elusive in space, even BETTER than Q. But he's gotta be in space for him to be effective and between the tackles, his power just isn't there. THAT'S why, in my opinion, you're not seeing him in a 1st through 3rd down role.

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

The reason that I say he is more like Peterson is that he outran them to the corner which is exactly like Finch. Finch's "elusiveness" is typically his spin move not straight up juking guys out of his jock (although he has an inside dive that he can use against people who over-pursue outside). The problem here is that both of these moves are really only effective if you are moving north and south compared with juking which is at its most effective near the LOS. In other words, you have to spring Finch to maximize his effectiveness. An elusive back tends to avoid contact throughout the entire run, Finch has a tendency to just try to run through people in the 2nd level.

Q - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhmqTdqbepY
Finch - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkieo5uk7lg

And yes, he runs more like Peterson (meaning pedal to the metal no patience) than he does Q.

[Tulsa_Fireman]

But his style as a back, his role as a back, and his ability in space isn't remotely like Peterson. To make the comparison on one dynamic when there's so many others, others that define him and his role that are actually OPPOSITES of the comparison is just silly.

And to take that one step further, to say Peterson had patience issues wasn't a testament to his lack of patience. It was a testament to his insane strength and confidence. Making the hole versus waiting for the hole. He's shown numerous times that the patience is there. Seen it firsthand. You can too every time Minnesota hits the zone read.

[OkieThunderLion]

How is finch not used like Q? Did we change our philosophy so much that a guy like finch( yes, it has been rumored he doesn't train as hard as he could) can still hit those kind of numbers And not get his number called 12-15 times a game. I guess I'm askin the profs, what's the difference physically between Q and finch?

Q really protected the QB well for a little guy.

Same height but very different build. Q had massive lower half and could anchor against the rush.

[Salt City Sooner]

Q really protected the QB well for a little guy.

Same height but very different build. Q had massive lower half and could anchor against the rush.
This is one thing that I think a lot of people forget about him. I remember one article in which he stated that he had to wear 2x pants because his thighs were that big.

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

But his style as a back, his role as a back, and his ability in space isn't remotely like Peterson. To make the comparison on one dynamic when there's so many others, others that define him and his role that are actually OPPOSITES of the comparison is just silly.

And to take that one step further, to say Peterson had patience issues wasn't a testament to his lack of patience. It was a testament to his insane strength and confidence. Making the hole versus waiting for the hole. He's shown numerous times that the patience is there. Seen it firsthand. You can too every time Minnesota hits the zone read.

I'm not talking about a physical attribute comparison, I'm talking about blocking schemes. One of our largest issues has been that while theoretically we are a 9 on 11 running team, in actuality we take 9 to block 6. This weakness means that every back we have has to either have home run ability or a way to make people miss (juke/slither/whatever) at the LOS to make any kind of decent run game. In order to maximize Finch we have to break him loose at the LOS or otherwise he ends up trying to outrun them to the sideline (no different than what we had to do with Peterson). Our current personnel just do not do all that well in locking guys up right off tackle. This coupled with how poor our WR blocking has been on running plays the last 4 years (Brown being an exception). I just personally think we are going to struggle getting Finch into the 2nd level with any kind of consistency.

[8timechamps]

It's really hard to compare Finch to either AD or Q. Q's center of gravity was better (or more advantageous) than Finch, but that was because he was freakishly big in his lower body. He was stronger than Finch (in his running style). About the only thing I see similar is height. I do see some relation to AD in the way Finch reads on the move, but his running style is more like Maurice Jones-Drew than AD.

Finch's strengths are his speed and ability to maneuver in space. He may be the most slippery back I've ever seen. Someone earlier asked why he wasn't moved to slot sooner, and the only thing I can think is that his height makes it an issue. Sure, he wouldn't have a problem getting by a linebacker on release, but once he's down-field, he's a very small target to throw to. Throwing to Finch in traffic would be extremely difficult for the most accurate of QBs.

[cvsooner]

His height and the fact that he doesn't have the best of hands for a receiver, based on what we've seen so far. Also has displayed a penchant for fumbling.

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

Finch's strengths are his speed and ability to maneuver in space. He may be the most slippery back I've ever seen. Someone earlier asked why he wasn't moved to slot sooner, and the only thing I can think is that his height makes it an issue. Sure, he wouldn't have a problem getting by a linebacker on release, but once he's down-field, he's a very small target to throw to. Throwing to Finch in traffic would be extremely difficult for the most accurate of QBs.

Having a RB that can naturally play WR is a rare thing. When you have it, you can create all kinds of matchup problems for a defense by just simply moving him around the field. This is exactly what we did with DeMarco and USC did with Bush (for you older peeps, what ND did with the rocket). What normally happens is that you end up with a below average WR. The major problem is the change in how you view the field. A running back sees everything in front of him and interprets his job from that. Even while catching the ball out of the backfield most RB routes tend to give the RB the opportunity to catch the ball with plenty of space to allow him to look forward and then make a move (flare, middle stop, wheel).

A WR has to both look in front for holes and look back for the ball. When they catch the ball they have to "feel" where the defender is because there is normally no room to square up and then make a move. It isn't too dissimilar from someone going from catcher to center field in baseball (or swapping from right to left).

[8timechamps]

Having a RB that can naturally play WR is a rare thing. When you have it, you can create all kinds of matchup problems for a defense by just simply moving him around the field. This is exactly what we did with DeMarco and USC did with Bush (for you older peeps, what ND did with the rocket). What normally happens is that you end up with a below average WR. The major problem is the change in how you view the field. A running back sees everything in front of him and interprets his job from that. Even while catching the ball out of the backfield most RB routes tend to give the RB the opportunity to catch the ball with plenty of space to allow him to look forward and then make a move (flare, middle stop, wheel).

A WR has to both look in front for holes and look back for the ball. When they catch the ball they have to "feel" where the defender is because there is normally no room to square up and then make a move. It isn't too dissimilar from someone going from catcher to center field in baseball (or swapping from right to left).

I agree with that, which is why I favored Clay over Finch back in 2011. I've always felt like Clay has the best hands of the RBs on the roster, but it didn't seem like we isolated him much to utilize that. The wheel route is one of my favorite offensive plays in football, but it takes a talented offense to get the best results. If set up correctly, it can go for big gains. Anyway, I digress...

[picasso]

4.8 is not slow for a guy who is 6'6" 255.

[8timechamps]

4.8 is not slow for a guy who is 6'6" 255.

Yeah, that made me chuckle. Sub 5 is not slow period. For me, sub 7 is not slow.

[goingoneight]

I get a good laugh out of people melting down over 40 times, too. Millard had no problem embarrassing all the Texas DBs last year as did Jermaine Gresham during his time.