Andy Richardson
You don't want to get too hung up on 40 times. That's how running backs like former Titan Chris Henry get overdrafted, and players like Emmitt Smith get undervalued. Speed on a track doesn't always translate into speed on gameday, or difference-making NFL talent.
A quick glance at the last few years of rookie runners bears this out. The table below shows the official 40 times recorded by running backs drafted in the first three rounds at the last three NFL combines, sorted from fastest to slowest. Their total yards and touchdowns in their rookie seasons are also shown. It's early, but there are plenty of fast runners there who can already be deemed flops, as well as comparatively slow players who appear ticketed for solid pro careers.
That said, most of those elite 40 times -- 4.40 or faster -- do belong to some of the league's elite young runners. Three of the four fastest times recorded at the combine in the previous three years belong to Chris Johnson, Adrian Peterson, and Jamaal Charles.
The 40 times from 2010 can be seen at this link.
40 Yds TDs Player
4.24 1488 10 Chris Johnson
4.33 784 4 Darren McFadden
4.38 629 1 Jamaal Charles
4.40 1609 13 Adrian Peterson
4.40 172 2 Chris Henry
4.45 0 0 Kenny Irons
4.45 75 0 Rashard Mendenhall
4.46 1299 7 Marshawn Lynch
4.46 125 0 Lorenzo Booker
4.46 1715 12 Matt Forte
4.47 276 4 Felix Jones
4.47 727 0 Ray Rice
4.48 883 10 Jonathan Stewart
4.48 1160 9 Knowshon Moreno
4.49 1659 10 Steve Slaton
4.49 945 4 LeSean McCoy
4.51 450 3 Donald Brown
4.54 397 1 Brandon Jackson
4.58 1262 8 Kevin Smith
4.58 302 1 Glen Coffee
4.59 936 7 Beanie Wells
4.61 186 2 Jacob Hester
4.65 540 2 Shonn Greene
- Comments [0]
Readers' Comments
Add a Comment
Already a registered user? Please sign in to add comments.
To add comments, you must become a registered user of our site. To register, please click here.
