The marquee event of the NFL Scouting Combine is the 40-yard dash.
Speed wins in the major American sports leagues. The faster the fastball in Major League Baseball, the better. No one can keep up with the end-to-end speed of Memphis Grizzlies superstar Ja Morant in the NBA these days. The fastest skaters in the NHL usually are among the scoring leaders.
The fastest players in the NFL generally are receivers and cornerbacks. Modern-day rules heavily favor offenses and receivers, so all scouts are on the lookout for pure speed at both positions. The marquee event of the NFL Scouting Combine annually, which is this week in Indianapolis, is the 40-yard dash. If a player runs a spectacular mark in that, he can earn himself millions of dollars.
Let’s break down a few 40-yard dash NFL props available this week.
Ross’ Record Is One To Beat
The fastest official 40-yard dash time at a Combine was 4.22 seconds by former
University of Washington receiver John Ross in 2017. Well, that’s the fastest time since 1999, when an electronic clock was first used at the event. There have been rumors the likes of Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders ran faster but that was before electronic timing.
True story: Adidas offered an actual island worth $1 million to any player in 2017 who broke the previous 40-yard dash record of 4.24 seconds by Chris Johnson in 2008. Said player had to win a particular brand of Adidas shoes, but Ross was wearing Nike so he lost out on that.
Adidas offered an actual island worth $1 million to any player in 2017 who broke the previous 40-yard dash record of 4.24 seconds by Chris Johnson in 2008.
Ross was considered a borderline late first-round pick in the 2017 draft, but that 4.22 dash helped him be selected No. 9 overall by the Cincinnati Bengals. Ross has been a bust in the NFL. That anyone breaks Ross’ mark this week is a +500 long shot with no at -900.
There was no Combine in 2021 due to the COVID pandemic. The fastest time in 2020 was 4.27 seconds by Alabama receiver Henry Ruggs, which led to him being the first receiver taken in that year’s draft at No. 12 overall by the Las Vegas Raiders, but Ruggs’ NFL career is likely over due to a fatal DUI crash that he caused. He’s awaiting trial and was cut by the Raiders.
The Over/Under for the fastest time this year is 4.29 seconds with a faster a -170 favorite and slower at +130. The fastest 2019 team was exactly 4.29. The last time the fastest was slower was in 2018 (4.32).
Which position will the fastest 40-yard dash come from? Cornerback is the -110 favorite, followed by the receiver at +175 and running back at +275. The last running back to “win” the 40 at the Combine was Georgia’s Keith Marshall at 4.31 in 2016. It didn’t help Marshall much as he was a seventh-round pick that year by Washington and never played in the NFL in part due to injury.
