Another thing that keeps getting overlooked is that good coaches spend a great deal of time in the off season looking at players and tape. It’s just what they do as part of their job. Coaches spend countless hours in the off season doing far more than play design and looking at last year’s tape on their own players. The notion that they are simply saying to their GMs that they want a guy who runs a 4.3 40 and can get open is just belittling the amount of work a coach puts in during the off season.
Most of this information comes from reading interviews and talking to a former NFL coach who knows a great number of current nfl coaches, GMs, and scouts. I doubt he’s just saying this. He’s friends with Elway, Dick Vermeil, Wade, and several others. I tend to trust what he says on stuff like this because he’s been there.