Football, when you think about it, is all about math.
Quarterbacks are judged on their completion percentage (or QBR), running backs on their yards per carry, offensive and defensive linemen on the mass they possess and the mass they can move around. Coaches, of course, on their ability to make the hundreds of little equations add up to a win each week.
One of Penn State’s most underrated equations – the ability of Dwight Galt and his strength staff to add size and speed and skill to raw talent and turn it into future talent – was on display again this week during the team’s pro day.
Micah Parsons, a likely top 10 draft choice and the inarguable No. 1 linebacker in the Class of 2021, ran a 4.39-second 40 – one-tenth of a second off the best-ever time by a linebacker at the combine, Shaquem Griffin’s 4.38 in 2018 – at 246 pounds, or 21 heavier than Griffin. And it wasn’t even the top time of the afternoon. That one was a 4.36 40, which belonged to defensive END Jayson Oweh, who ran it at 257 pounds. That time was five hundredths of a second better than Montez Sweat, at 260 pounds, posted at the combine two years ago, which was the fastest ever.
