Bo Jackson, Deion Sanders and Chris Johnson can sleep well Saturday night.
Although a few offensive players have turned in impressive 40-yard dashes midway through the NFL scouting combine drills, none challenged some of the all-time great times in Indy. In fact, NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock said he was disappointed by the lack of speed on display to this point.
"What was surprising to me was the wide receiver class as a whole," Mayock said Saturday after the conclusion of the on-field activities. "[Colorado State WR Rashard] ‘Hollywood’ Higgins runs a 4.6. There were a bunch of 4.6s and 4.59s, 4.7s. A lot more wide receivers ran slow than I thought they would."
That didn't go unnoticed by Denver Broncos cornerback Chris Harris.
 | @ChrisHarrisJr | |
Some slow Wrs coming in the league today lol
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Some top wide receivers, including Ole Miss' Laquon Treadwell and Baylor's Corey Coleman, opted not to run. Ohio State's Braxton Miller, who predicted a lofty goal of running a 4.28 at the Senior Bowl, turned in a 4.5, which didn't surprise Mayock.
“There was a lot of buzz about him running a 4.3 or whatever. I’m fine with him at 4.5 … 4.5 is plenty fast. He’s so quick, so athletic. It didn’t change my opinion of him at all,” he said.Mayock might not be a huge proponent of the 40 as an end-all-be-all metric. But as he said, the variance from the expected numbers is what he and NFL scouts are looking for.
“That’s what matters. Fast guys run fast. Slow guys run slow. It’s a story when the opposite happens," he said.
The two best times of Friday and Saturday — with the defensive players, including the always-fast DB group, yet to run — were turned in by Georgia running back Keith Marshall (4.31 seconds) and Notre Dame wide receiver Will Fuller (4.32).
Marshall shared time with Todd Gurley and Nick Chubb for the Bulldogs, a group of talented runners that has had incredibly bad luck with torn ACLs. After suffering his in October 2014, Marshall is no longer feeling any straight-line effects from the injury.
Fuller, whom Mayock projected as a second-round pick, was expected to turn in one of the fastest times at in Indianapolis. What wasn't expected was that Clemson cornerback Mackensie Alexander was going to trash Fuller in his media session, even after his blazing 40.
The three next fastest 40s from the skill-position group included TCU WR Kolby Listinbee (4.39), San Jose State RB Tyler Ervin (4.41) and Cal WR Trevor Davis (4.42). The fastest tight end was South Carolina's Jerrell Adams at 4.64, and the fastest QB was Louisiana Tech's Jeff Driskel at 4.56. Among offensive linemen, four turned in times of five seconds and lower — Indiana OT Jason Spriggs (4.94), N.C. State OG Joe Thuney (4.95), UCLA OT Caleb Benenoch (4.98) and Michigan State OT Jack Conklin (5.00).
On the other end of the spectrum, there were a few glacial 40s.
Mississippi State WR De'Runnya Wilson turned in a potential disastrous time of 4.85, which was 13 hundredths slower than any other wideout. Among running backs, the four slowest times were by fullbacks, but the slowest 40 by a true running back was a 4.64 by Auburn's Peyton Barber, who left school a year early to support his homeless mother.
Western Kentucky QB Brandon Doughty registered a Tom Brady-esque 5.22. Texas-San Antonio TE David Morgan ran a 5.02, the only tight end slower than a 4.94. And, yes, there were the big men. Among offensive linemen, the slowest times came from Wisconsin's Tyler Marz (5.54), Arkansas's Denver Kirkland (5.55), LSU's Vadal Alexander (5.57) and North Carolina OG Landon Turner (5.58).
Expect a few defensive backs to change this list. But even they might not make it onto Mt. Rushmore of 40 times. The offensive guys certainly didn't.
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