Scouts, coaches and general managers flooded the RCA Dome in Indianapolis last weekend to watch the NFL Combine, the annual draft evaluation event. Although many schools hold pro-days and players participate in individual workouts, the Combine is believed to provide the best pre-draft assessment: the conditions are the same for all the athletes invited to attend.

It is an unforgiving process in which draft stocks can shoot up or plummet in a matter of minutes — as soon as a player finishes a drill, he is instantly compared to his peers. Their college successes are put on hold as they try to prove that they have the strength, speed and agility to succeed at the next level.

In addition to weigh-ins and team interviews, there are seven workouts at the Combine, although no one is forced to do any of them. The sexiest drill is the 40-yard dash, whose name is fairly self-explanatory: players run 40 yards in a straight line and are timed at the 10, 20 and 40 yard marks to see how well they accelerate. For a skill position player, anything 4.5 seconds or below is very good. A time lower than 4.25 seconds is inhuman, but a finish above 4.65 will raise some question marks.

Because, I reckon, of how easy it is to understand, the 40-yard dash is the most popular measurement of speed by fans and media alike.

But its simplicity is also its downfall: it is not an accurate judge of game speed.

Rarely will a player run 40 yards untouched in a game. The play with the most amount of straight running is a wide receiver on a fly route. Even then, he will likely bump with the cornerback within the first 10 yards and will continue to grapple with him as they race down field. It is hardly in a straight-line, and a fists-pumping, head forward motion almost never accompanies it.

Frankly, the only time a player will cover 40 yards undeterred is on the rare occasion when they bust through coverage and would-be tacklers on a beeline to the end-zone.

And let’s not forget that linemen and quarterbacks are also tested in this drill — the chances of them running 40 yards on one play at all, much less in a straight line, are very low.

There is something to be said for acceleration — the best linemen can move quickly from their primary blocks to their secondary ones, and backs and receivers can get past defenders with a burst of speed — but so much goes into running during a game that the 40-yard dash doesn’t measure: agility, lateral quickness and coordination, just to name a few.

However, there are other (and better) workouts that measure these qualities. The best is the 3-cone drill, where three markers are set up in an “L” shape. Players must start at one cone, run five yards to another, run back, then run around the second cone to the third, and then back again. This drill tests speed in short intervals (which are more useful for comparison to game speed and acceleration), as well as cutting ability, coordination and agility.

There are also the 20- and 60-yard shuttles, which test how well a player moves across the field and whether he can change direction rapidly.

NFL general managers are beginning to place a lot of their faith in the 3-cone drill and the two shuttles over the 40-yard dash. For example, New York Giants GM Jerry Reese — who had the draft’s best class hands down last year, with all eight draftees logging significant minutes during the Giants’ Superbowl run — is a big proponent of the three lesser-known drills.

His last selection in the draft was running back Ahmad Bradshaw, who had an average 40 time of 4.60 seconds but was among the top finishers in the 3-cone and 20-yard shuttle. Bradshaw became a key member of the Giants’ offense during the playoffs: his smooth running across the field and his ability to change direction on a dime (skills measured by the two drills) made him a valuable asset in the back field. Along the way, he drew comparisons to the legendary Barry Sanders.

The infatuation with the 40-yard dash may be coming to a close inside of NFL front offices, but analysts and many fans still treat it as gospel — when Arkansas back Darren McFadden, the top runner in the draft, timed in at (an unofficial) 4.27 seconds in the 40 on Sunday, the commentators couldn’t contain their excitement.

But the scouts barely flinched — there was more important testing left to do.

Wyndam Makowsky is a freshman who is still bitter at having a slow 40-yard time. Email him at makowsky@stanford.edu.