Originally posted by mayo49:
Originally posted by WRATHman44:
For a jump ball guy, a 33" vert is pathetic. His greatest asset was supposed to be an ability to go up and get contested deep balls. Short arms and sad vert did him no favors.
His vertical was more than pathetic. 
I don't mean to be rude, but that sounds like a very limited understanding of both what it takes to be a good jump ball WR and how these drills and measurements REALLY correlate to game specific situations.
VERTICAL LEAP: Have you ever actually WATCHED this drill? Players are not allowed to take any steps (meaning no momentum) and jump straight up. Unless it's a hail mary pass, this situation NEVER HAPPENS IN THE NFL. Actual on-field jump ball situations involve either running starts, can be 1 or 2 footed, and doing some from different positions. A higher testing on vert measurement at the combine doesn't necessarily mean that player can get higher in non-static jumps, and vice versa.
ARM LENGTH/HAND SIZE: His arms are not long FOR HIS SIZE- doesn't mean he has t-rex arms and still doesn't provide an impressive target and catch radius
What Combine Measurements DON'T Tell You About A Player's Jump Ball Ability:
1)
Timing - What good is all the leaping ability in the world if you can't time your jumps? The ball doesn't arrive when a player decides to jump, it's up to the WR to anticipate both WHEN and WHERE the football will be. No drill can measure this, only game-tape can... and the game tape shows DGB having good timing on jump balls.
2)
POSITIONING - WHY do former basketball players tend to become excellent receiving options in the NFL? Because basketball sport that teaches and is based staying in front and maneuvering yourself into better position than your opponent, whether that be posting up and playing with your back to the bucket, boxing out for a rebound, both of which involve the player "making himself big". A lack of an excellent vertical can be mitigated a lot by a player with excellent feel for positioning that knows how to use his size.
3)
GIRTH vs HEIGHT (And Both) - When a WR and a DB both go up for a jump ball, mutual body contact is allowed. A CB who is getting out-muscled and bodied up with the ball in the air is probably not going to be getting his hands on the ball or be under control. Even an elite press CB like Richard Sherman can't contend with Kelvin Benjamin when he had position on him with that size.
4)
CONCENTRATION: Still have to catch the ball. DGB has proven he can high point the ball and is a natural hands catcher.
It's amazing to me how people try to over-simplify everything for themselves. If it were THAT easy to find out who the best players were based on stats and combine results, they would hold the draft the day after and the players with the best measurables get drafted first in exact order, and almost always become better pro's.
There is a reason why guys like Anquan Boldin and Hakeem Nicks (6-1 and 6-2) have been very solid jump ball WR's their whole careers, while guys like Dwayne Jarrett and Stephen Hill (Both 6-4 with long arms) have been terrible.
