Ole Miss receiver D.K. Metcalf received plenty of attention at the 2019 NFL combine with his mysteriously low body fat percentage and jaw-dropping measurables, but it was a former Ole Miss teammate who left Indianapolis with the best 40-yard dash time of the week. Defensive back Zedrick Woods ran a 4.29-second 40 to beat everyone in Indy, edging Auburn’s Jamel Dean by .01.
Ohio State’s Parris Campbell and UMass’ Andy Isabella recorded the fastest 40 times among all wide receivers at 4.31, results that will surely boost their draft stock leading up to the 2019 NFL Draft in April. According to Mel Kiper Jr., however, the 40-yard dash is overrated, and the stats back him up.
Dan Patrick: “[A former NFL scout] said the thing that he always looked for, he wanted to know how explosive you are, and he thought the vertical jump was the most important thing at the combine.”
Mel Kiper Jr.: “I agree. I think the broad jump, the vertical jump, the three cones, that quickness, agility and explosion are the most important part of it. I’ll go back to Alvin Kamara. Alvin Kamara didn’t have a great 40 time, but he had an incredible broad jump and an incredible vertical jump. So when you look at the numbers – if the numbers are bad across the board, you say ‘wow, OK, I’ve got to go back and really think about is this kid just a great college player?’ But if you get a kid that runs a less-than-stellar 40 but he has the super numbers in other explosive areas, then you’re fine.
… And 40 times, let’s face it, you can get a 40 time at a combine that’s disappointing and then they run at the pro day and it’s significantly better.”
Kiper notes that Antonio Brown recorded a 40 time at the 2010 combine that wasn’t elite, only to go on and be the most productive receiver in the league over the last half-decade. We checked the combine 40 times of the top 10 receivers by yardage in the 2018 season, and there were only three players – Julio Jones, Tyreek Hill and George Kittle – who posted elite 40 times against the competition in their respective draft classes.
Julio Jones: 4.39
DeAndre Hopkins: 4.57
Mike Evans: 4.53
Tyreek Hill: 4.28 (pro day)
JuJu Smith-Schuster: 4.54
Michael Thomas: 4.57
Davante Adams: 4.56
George Kittle: 4.52 (3rd among TEs)
Adam Thielen: 4.45 (regional combine)
Travis Kelce: 4.61 (pro day)
