Michael Sam: Is he ready for the NFL

The NFL is a close-knit group and Michael Sam may have to learn that very quickly. Whether you realize it or not, making it to the NFL is very difficult. Out of every 100,000 High School Seniors only 215 ever make it to an NFL roster. That’s only 0.2%!!

That’s highly unlikely.

What are your chances of being on a plane with a drunken pilot? 117 to 1. Odds of winning an academy award? 11,500 to 1. Odds of dating a millionaire? 215 to 1. All better odds than making it to the NFL. So its obvious we are talking about a very select group of individuals. Now that being said and putting aside all of the controversy regarding Michael Sam and his sexual preferences, what do the numbers say? Is he good enough to be a succesful player in the NFL?

Just the Numbers

Most of the coverage regarding Michael Sam has been about whether the NFL is ready for an openly gay player but I think the more pertinent question is Michael Sam ready for the NFL? Most scouts had Michael Sam initially going in the 3rd to 4th round, so what caused him to slide all the way to the bottom of the 7th round? To put it simply his numbers at the NFL Combine. Whether you believe his homosexuality had anything to do with his slide or not the stats and combine numbers don’t justify him being drafted any higher than the 7th round. Lets look at some of his measurables. Michael Sam is 6′ 2 and 261 lbs his numbers at the combine are as follows:

40 Yard Dash – 4.91
Bench Press – 17 reps
Vertical Jump – 25.5 inches
Broad Jump – 114 inches
3 code shuttle – 7.8 seconds
20 yard shuttle – 4.7 seconds

Now lets compare that with little known line backer, Kevin Pierre-Louis 6’1 232 lbs and drafted in the 4th round by the Seattle Seahawks.

40 Yard Dash – 4.46
Bench Press – 28 reps
Vertical Jump – 39 inches
Broad Jump – 128 inches
3 cone shuttle – 6.92 seconds
20 yard shuttle – 4.02 seconds

Productivity

Now some may say, ” Who cares about the measurables it’s all about whether you can deliver on the field.” Well that maybe true so lets look at Michael Sams’s most productive year, 2013 and compare it to Kevin Pierre-Louis (6’1 225 lbs) most productive year also 2013.

31 Solo tackles
19 tackles for a loss
11.5 sacks
2 forces fumbles
0 ints

How does that compare with KPL?

67 solo tackles
10.5 tackles for a loss
5 sacks
1 int

Again Michael’s numbers are just not up to par. Now granted he does have more sacks than Kevin Pierre-Louis who was one of the fastest linebackers in the entire draft but even when you compare him with other linebackers such as Jeremiah George (5′ 11 219 lbs) who were just as slow in the 40 yard dash clocking coming in at 4.91 seconds the measurables and productivity their numbers are still better than Michael Sam.

Bench Press – 28 reps
Vertical Jump – 33 inches
Broad Jump – 116 inches
83 solo tackles
12 tackles for a loss
3.5 sacks
2 Ints
3 Forced Fumbles

Conclusion