Another Reason Why the 40-Yard Dash is Comical

Here is Vick Ballard. Running back out of Mississippi State. My man steps up to run the 40 yard dash and doesn't quite make it 10 yards. What they should assess here is his desire to get to that 10 yard marker. Let's think of this as an NFL game. He got the handoff and ran exactly the way he did and fell at that 10 yard marker, did he get the first down? I'm looking at it closely and it appears that camera stand in his way made the stop and his knee was down just shy of the first down marker. But not many running backs can whip off 40-yard runs. My man whips off a productive 9 yard run and puts his team in good position to pick up the first down. This is what I take from this. If I'm a scout, I like what he did here. He revolutionized the the 40 yard dash. He made it into a 10 yard run. "A pick up of 9 yard for Ballard. Tackle made by the camera stand. That'll bring up 2nd down and a yard to go."