People here at UCF chuckle when asked about the Breshad Perriman 40-yard dash time. They don't laugh at the time itself; they laugh at the reaction.
Why was the nation surprised?
"There was this drill we'd do, where all of us would have to chase the ball," says tight end Justin Tukes, who is hoping to be in the same draft class as Perriman. "Anytime Breshad got the ball, there was no need to chase the ball. He had already left us."
Perriman's 4.24-second run at his pro day sparked national head-shaking but local head-nodding. This is the second straight year a UCF player has been a draft surprise, as Blake Bortles was not generally expected to be taken third overall in 2014. Throw in 2013 sixth-rounder Latavius Murray's flash of greatness with the Oakland Raiders before an injury last season and there's a trend developing here. A recent report shows UCF draftees outpacing performance expectations in the NFL more than any other school's football products. That makes some sense considering UCF has the largest undergraduate enrollment in the country, at 51,269, but most fans haven't watched the team play a lot on Saturdays.
"People just don't see UCF as a huge school," shrugs wide receiver Jordan Akins.
Case in point: Perriman made one of the best catches of the 2014 season last December in a last-second touchdown to beat East Carolina. It was about as under-the-radar as a televised Hail Mary catch can be.
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