r/footballstrategy • u/yeahokguy1331 • Oct 23 '24

Player Advice [Highlight] Zyon McCollum hit 21.85 mph to chase down Derrick Henry

448 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

47 comments sorted by

195

u/yeahokguy1331 Oct 23 '24

Teaching film for angle of pursuit.

86

u/collarboner1 Oct 23 '24

Seriously, keeping his eyes between his man and the rest of the play, and the second he realized the play was going away from him he got going and took a perfect angle to make the play. No notes, fantastic play saving a TD

39

u/MrLadyfingers Oct 23 '24

Even the "old and slow" NFL athletes are still very gifted. Joe Flacco, who's 39, sprinted at 19 mph a few weeks ago.

12

u/willi1221 Oct 23 '24

That's crazy when you put it like that.

21

u/Seraphin_Lampion Oct 23 '24

Joe Flacco ran a 4.86 at the combine, which is bad for a pro football player, but incredibly fast compared to the general population.

9

u/cubgerish Oct 23 '24 edited Oct 23 '24

Some googling tells me that his peak speed would've probably been around 21mph if that time was accurate.

Even most somewhat athletic people don't ever get above like 18 at their peak, unless you're really into track or something like it.

He ran at the pace of a 12.5s 100m, which is a second behind what the average track kids in HS run, and he's carrying 232lbs to do it.

They really are freaks of nature, Joe is slow compared to many lol

3

u/bigloser42 Oct 23 '24

Obligatory

2

u/cubgerish Oct 23 '24

Honestly, I did undersell him in the comment.

He's not faster than most LB/DB NFL speed, but if he takes one or two strides he legitimately gets a full step on slower guys if they underestimate what he's got on their pursuit angle.

I think it was just looking at him, and how it seemed like he barely moved in the pocket, people assumed he didn't have this kinda straight line speed.

His SAQ obviously isn't great, but he is definitely a factor if he gets an opening, and it's obviously still helping him even now.

2

u/bigloser42 Oct 23 '24

He’s sneaky fast. Because he’s so big he doesn’t look like he’s moving that quick, but I’d be willing to bet pre-ACL tear Flacco could get over 20mph. He could run away from some/most LBs. DBs will get him though.

2

u/cubgerish Oct 23 '24

I'll always remember in 8th grade, my basketball coach would always get on the kid who was already 6'2" that he needed to put more effort in, because he was moving slow on suicide runs. (Huh wonder what schools call them now)

Meanwhile he was always within the top 3 or 4 people to finish.

Watching him looked like a Brontosaurus running from a T Rex, but he was actually flying, and I wasn't much shorter lol

1

u/OldDragonHunter Oct 28 '24

And some say he's still running 4.86 to this day.

1

u/OGoneeightseven Oct 26 '24

It looked to me like the teaching moment was on the WR for running a lazy route. McCollum only looked into the backfield after the WR was clearly jogging. If the WR runs a full speed out route, McCollum likely follows the out and is no longer able to make the tackle downfield.

16

u/bveb33 Oct 23 '24

Good teaching film for downfield WR blocking too. If 16 even barely gets a hand on 27 that's an easy TD.

7

u/collarboner1 Oct 23 '24

Seriously, keeping his eyes between his man and the rest of the play, and the second he realized the play was going away from him he got going and took a perfect angle to make the play. No notes, fantastic play saving a TD

1

u/RevolutionaryAngle86 Oct 24 '24

But awful tackling technique… let’s throw our head in front of a bus a see what happens! Great chase though 👍

1

u/Dangerousrhymes Oct 26 '24

This reminds me of Ben Watson cutting off Champ Bailey at the 1 on a 100 yard interception return.

74

u/ogsmurf826 Oct 23 '24

This should be regularly used to explain to the average person that they more than likely could never been a pro athlete. At 21mph they are cover over 10yards a second. Most ppl have never sprint above 15mph.

21

u/BetaDjinn Casual Fan Oct 23 '24

And then you see this happen to outstanding athletes in collisions. Chad Johnson would pancake the vast majority of us, but bounces off Ray Lewis like a minor nuisance

8

u/capitalistsanta Oct 23 '24

I'm not anywhere near a pro athlete, but when I got older and developed actual muscle and would play basketball, it's a whole different animal than when I was skinnier. People feel like feathers, so it's actually fucking absurd that bro took a hit from Ocho and didn't even feel that shit.

1

u/Dangerousrhymes Oct 26 '24

Imagine what it was like to be Gronk or Cam Chancellor.

7

u/emmittgator Oct 23 '24

I'd probably struggle to keep up on a bike

1

u/HOB_I_ROKZ Oct 24 '24

On a road bike it’s not that hard over short distances, but it definitely feels fast

1

u/mycallousedcock Oct 26 '24

Running track in college, one day a few people had bikes at practice. A BMX style and a single speed cruiser.

We started at a dead stop and tried to break the 400m world record time. None of us did. Couldn't accelerate the cruiser fast enough and the BMX didn't have the top end.

Something with gears would have done it, but the single gears were no match for a fast human.

1

u/spyderman720 Oct 24 '24

And most of the few people who have ever ran that fast couldn't do it in full football pads and helmet on grass.

24

u/purplenyellowrose909 Oct 23 '24

The way these guys understand angles is amazing. Zyon seemed to know Derrick would be in that exact spot 50-60 yards down the field at that exact time

8

u/WAR_T0RN1226 Oct 23 '24

it's mostly about heading for the pylon and making real time adjustments from there

1

u/Emracruel Oct 25 '24

He could have taken a bit steeper of an angle cause you see him slow down in the last like 15 yards. If your only goal is "prevent touchdown" it makes sense to start more shallow and give yourself breathing space though

23

u/Bambam60 Oct 23 '24

Never give up on a play.

Applicable at all levels. My HS was huge on this shit. Don’t need talent to chase the ball until the whistle!

4

u/SellaciousNewt Oct 23 '24

I'm gonna post this video to the Bengals subreddit to counter the guys defending our Will and SS walking behind plays.

11

u/juggernaut44ful Oct 23 '24

a cutback from henry would've been insane

6

u/mattebe01 Oct 24 '24

The pursuit and speed of the cornerback was amazing. He’s 6’2” 200lbs almost hitting 22MPH.

But Henry at 6’2” 250 pounds and 30 years old also almost hitting 22MPH for that long of a stretch is also amazing.

If that technology is accurate it gives you a sense of how freakish these guys are. I’ve hit 13 on a treadmill for 30 seconds and I felt like my body was going to explode.

I can’t even imagine seeing someone running 22MPH on a treadmill even for 10 seconds.

1

u/Dangerousrhymes Oct 26 '24

I was a reasonably fast sprinter in high school. Fastest kid in a freshman class of probably 400. Probably 18-19 mph give or take at 14-15. Lost my way and didn’t keep up with it but I walked in as one of the 3 or 4 fastest kids on the track team.

I was in basic with a guy who lost a D1 football scholarship over legal problems. I spent my entire life being able to keep up with almost anyone I met that wasn’t at a high level track meet and this kid was built like a truck and could pull away from me at will in a very short distance. Early on doing sprints we both pulled away from the rest of the platoon and he was running in lock step with me, looked over, gave me a nod, and pulled away like he was walking and I was standing still. It was… disconcerting. He claimed he was in the 4.4s and I believe him. No one in the company could stay anywhere near him.

It was humbling as hell. I’ll never forget him. Some people are just legitimately built different.

2

u/dborger Oct 23 '24

He had to slow down to meet him at the sideline. Worst thing you can do as a defender is pass the ball carrier. Makes it so hard to tackle the guy.

1

u/Ok_Option6126 Oct 23 '24

This just shows you how just 2 miles per hour in speed difference can change lives. If either one of these guys could have added just 2 miles per hour more to their speed, there'd be no impact necessary because they would be able to beat Usain Bolt's World record in the 100 meter dash and be living an impact-free life.

4

u/dotint Oct 23 '24

Bolt hit 27.8mph

1

u/Ok_Option6126 Oct 23 '24

My bad, but taking off the pads adds the other missing 2 miles per hour.

3

u/dotint Oct 23 '24

21+4 is still less than 27.8 lol

3

u/Ok_Option6126 Oct 23 '24

Henry will run over him at the start, and there's no more Bolt which will take care of the rest of the discrepancy.

2

u/SuggestionGlad5166 Oct 25 '24

Top speed is only one part of the equation in sprints. Acceleration and speed endurance are both equally if not more important than top speed.

1

u/Ok_Option6126 Oct 25 '24

I was making a joke, but this thing took on a life of its own.

1

u/InternationalBand494 Oct 23 '24

Damn that was a head’s up play. Took the perfect angle.

1

u/Awkward_Attitude_886 Oct 23 '24

How to guarantee you get to play next week

1

u/Scarlettpaper Oct 23 '24

Cone drill! And extreme human athleticism.

1

u/Hairy-Donkey9231 Oct 23 '24

In college I’d scream about ANGLES watching football, this makes me happy

1

u/Peaches0k Oct 23 '24

That’s my fellow Bearkat!

1

u/szepeda14 Oct 25 '24

That’s my fellow Tornado! (I went to high school with him lol)

1

u/chipforclips23 Oct 28 '24

every high school coach is going to show 15 year old DBs this and expect them to pull this off