Today, Sunday, Feb. 24, the NFL struck on a brilliant idea – showcase the Combine with the skill position players – you know, the guys who run, catch and throw the ball. Doing this on the third Sunday since the conclusion of the season with Super Bowl XLVII – another football-less Sunday when the fan base is starving for news about the league – was simply brilliant.

And the players-to-be aren’t disappointing the audience. You’ve got two wideouts, Tavon Austin out of West Virginia and Marquis Goodman out of Texas who burned up the Lucas Oil Stadium turf by matching one another’s 4.25-second mark. They both just missed tying or beating Chris Johnson’s 4.24 record in the 40.

In addition, you’ve got a quarterback, Geno Smith, also of West Virginia, who pasted a 4.56 mark onto the board.

Also burning up the carpet were Michigan wide receiver Denard Robinson (4.34), Louisiana Tech’s Quinton Patton (4.46), and Tennessee’s Cordarrelle Patterson (4.37).

If these guys can translate their speed in shorts with the ability to catch the football in traffic on the National Football League gridiron, then there’s no question this could be a very good draft for wide receivers – at least for fast wide receivers.

These guys are clearly some talented athletes, but are they football players?

That remains to be seen.

For the videos of these guys burning things up, see below:

WR Tavon Austin & Marquise Goodwin 4.25 NFL Combine 40-yd dash

WR Denard Robinson NFL Combine 40 yd dash

WR Cordarrelle Patterson NFL Combine 40-yd dash

Geno Smith 40-yd dashes NFL Combine