Ziggy Ansah

[Y84it]

It's just not fair that we only got one year to enjoy this kid.

We still get one more game

[Y84it]

http://www.buffalobillsdraft.com/201...outing-report/

Another detailed review of Ziggy! I am confident now Ziggy goes in the first round!

[Surfah]

Kiper says Ziggy could be first DE taken if some juniors don't declare. There is no way in hell those guys are coming back for their senior years but interesting nonetheless.

[SoCalCoug]

National Football Post lists Ziggy as the 11th best draft prospect.

http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/...ce=twitterfeed

[SoCalCoug]

I keep seeing Ziggy with a 40 time listed in the 4.6 and 4.7 range. That's not consistent in my mind with his 200 meter time. As I understand it, his 200 meter time came from the 2009-2010 indoor season. I'm pretty sure he was listed at 260 or 270 in 2010, so I can't imagine that he put on that much weight for football - he was already pretty beefy, so I don't believe he would have lost that much speed between track and football.

So he ran a 21.90 in the 200 meters. My experience is that guys who are fast in the 200 meters are generally also fast in the 100 meters, and vice versa (that's why it's common to see sprinters competing in both of these events at the olympics. That was also the case in high school, where I was on the track team. I checked some track meet times for a couple of BYU meets, and it seems there was a pretty good correlation between 100 times and 200 times - there seemed to be a predictable range of 100 times for guys who ran in the 200. Based on what I saw, I'd expect Ziggy to run a 10.7 - 10.9 100 meters. According to this calculator (I can't verify its accuracy) I'm in the ballpark - it claims a 21.9 in 200 meters correlates to 10.89 in 100 meters.

I did a little poking around a few weeks ago, but didn't find a whole lot. I think I found a 100 time for Vernon Wells, but it was in high school, and I think he gained a lot of weight between that and when he ran a 4.38 in the NFL combine. I think my prediction for Ziggy's 40 time then was in the 4.5 - 4.6 range, give or take a half a second. One of the problems I face is that it's hard to find correlating track times for guys Ziggy's size, because they just don't run sprints, particularly at the college level.

So I was looking around a bit to see if I could see anything else, particularly in light of the 4.65 - 4.7 times I keep seeing on the draft sites which just strike me as a bit slow.

I came across a list of the fastest players in college football for 2011: http://heismanpundit.com/2011/06/14/...football-2011/ Generally, these guys are also track athletes, so there are track times for them. Also, not surprisingly, the guys on the top ten fastest player lists are going to be CB's, WR's and RB's, and they're going to be a bit faster than Ziggy.

However, on this list, at #8, I found Damiere Byrd, a cornerback from South Carolina, with a career best 200 time of 21.8. But it was also noted that he apparently does not have "superlative long speed", and his 100 time of 10.41 is a bit fast for a 21.8 200 time. Scout.com lists him with a 4.27 40-yard dash. So this is obviously a little guy who's got great short speed. Ziggy's not going to run in the 4.3 range, but it's really interesting that in a 200 meter race, he'd give a 4.3 guy who was one of the ten fastest players in college football in 2011 a really good race in 200 meters.

Here are some football players I was able to track down 200 meter times of 21.9 seconds, with their corresponding 40 yard times, as close in time as I could find to when they clocked their 21.9:

Mark Ingram (High school time) - 5-10, 202, RB, Alabama (per Scout.com - at the 2011 NFL combine, he came in at 5-9, 215, with a disappointing 4.62) - 4.45

Anthony Mosley (High school time) - 6-0, 178, CB, Kentucky - 4.36 per University of Kentucky profile

Tyshon Dye (High school time) - 6-1, 210, RB, Clemson (2013 commit) - 4.44 per Tigernet

Joe Staley (High school time) - 6-6, 230, TE, Central Michigan (as a 2003 commit - gained 76 lbs. in college and ran 4.78 at the 2007 NFL Combine, at 306 lbs.) - 4.55 (coming out of high school at 230 lbs. per Scout.com)

Joel Willis (High school time) - 5-10, 185, DB, Cal (2011 commit) - 4.37 per Cal's official website

Cyhl Quarles (High school time) - 6-3, 215, LB, Wake Forest (at NFL Combine, measured at 6-1, 223, with a 40 yard time of 4.53) - 4.47 per Wake Forest 2007 signing day report

I could go on, but this is a pretty good cross-section of guys who have reported 21.9 200 meter times. The guys running this kind of 200 meter time are generally DB's or RB's, weighing under 220 when they ran that time. All of these were high school times. Most of them are reporting 4.36 to 4.47 40 times as close to the time they ran the 21.9 that I could find.

The most interesting to me, and probably best correlation to Ziggy is Joe Staley, who ran a 4.78 at the NFL combine. But that was only after putting on at least 76 lbs. since running his 21.9 200 meters. Coming out of high school, his 40 time was reportedly 4.55.

Bottom line: I think the 4.65-4.7 estimates for Ziggy's speculative 40 time are extremely conservative. Guys reporting 21.9 200 meter times appear to be generally running 40's well under 4.5. I am assuming Ziggy hasn't put on tons of weight since his track days, and that he hasn't lost much speed. He certainly has fast football speed. It's going to be really interesting to see what he does after some Stroshine-type pre-draft training. I imagine that with him being a projected 1st rounder, he's going to have an agent able to get him the best combine training.

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that he's going to run right around a 4.5 at the Combine. It would not surprise me if he's around 4.45. It would surprise me if he's above 4.55.

[Donuthole]

I'm going with the eye test and saying 4.68. I'm guessing a bunch of the 40 times you listed above were unofficial and/or hand-clocked. That's a sure way to knock a tenth or two off your time.

[Surfah]

I have read that a lot of Ziggy's speed in the 200m comes from his long strides in the second half of that race. Similar to Usain Bolt who never is the fastest guy out of the blocks, but when he starts striding out nobody can catch him. I think this is why Ziggy's 40 times are projecting higher than you would think.

[Flystripper]

I have read that a lot of Ziggy's speed in the 200m comes from his long strides in the second half of that race. Similar to Usain Bolt who never is the fastest guy out of the blocks, but when he starts striding out nobody can catch him. I think this is why Ziggy's 40 times are projecting higher than you would think.

I would be shocked if he ran below a 4.6 at the combine and it would not really surprise me if he was north of 4.7. He will get his chance to show what he's got though, so all of this speculation is sort of pointless.

[Harry Tic]

so all of this speculation is sort of pointless.

Don't let word get out. You'll be held personally responsible for killing the internet. SoCalCoug, keep bringing it.

[ERCougar]

I think my prediction for Ziggy's 40 time then was in the 4.5 - 4.6 range, give or take a half a second.

A very safe prediction.

[Indy Coug]

Ziggy is such a big guy that he probably takes awhile to get up to full steam, so I wouldn't be surprised if his 40 time is slower than the 40 times of smaller guys that have comparable 100M or 200M times.

Usain Bolt doesn't distinguish himself in the first 40M; it's after that point that he obliterates the field.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

I bet Ziggy is slower in the 40 that taekwondave. I haven't read a ton of articles about it like Surfah though.

[Surfah]

I bet Ziggy is slower in the 40 that taekwondave. I haven't read a ton of articles about it like Surfah though.

No way he's faster than taekwondave. That much is certain.

[Katy Lied]

National Football Post lists Ziggy as the 11th best draft prospect.

http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/...ce=twitterfeed

Funny. 3 guys in the top 20 on the list were BYU's to lose, and the cougars only got 1. Whatif whatif.

[Pelado]

Funny. 3 guys in the top 20 on the list were BYU's to lose, and the cougars only got 1. Whatif whatif.

Funny is not the word I would use.