40-yard dash


The 40-yard dash is a sprint covering. It is primarily run to evaluate the speed and acceleration of American football players by scouts, particularly for the NFL Draft but also for collegiate recruiting. A player's recorded time can have a heavy impact on his prospects in college or professional football. This was traditionally only true for the "skill" positions such as running back, wide receiver, and defensive back, although now a fast 40-yard dash time is considered important for almost every position. The 40-yard dash is not an official race in track and field athletics, and is not an IAAF-recognized race.
The origin of timing football players for 40 yards comes from the average distance of a punt and the time it takes to reach that distance. Punts average around 40 yards in distance from the line of scrimmage, and the hangtime averages approximately 4.5 seconds; therefore, if a coach knows that a player can run 40 yards in 4.5 seconds, he will be able to leave the line of scrimmage when a punt is kicked, and reach the point where the ball comes down just as it arrives.

Timing method and track comparisons

In terms of judging a person's speed, the best method of timing is through lasers which start and stop the times when passed through. A laser start is more accurate for measuring pure speed as it does not register a runner's reaction time, however, this method of timing a 40-yard dash can affect the accuracy by as much as 0.5 seconds with the manual stopwatch method.
The National Football League did not begin using partial electronic timing at the NFL Scouting Combine until 1999. For purposes of measurement at the Combine, the run is made along the lower sideline from the 40 yard-line to the end zone, which has built-in rundown space, and for electronically timed 40-yard dashes, the runner is allowed to start when they wish, and a timer hand-starts the clock.
In contrast, track and field races have the runner react to a starting gun, which takes approximately 0.24 second ; further to this, IAAF rules state any runner with a reaction time of less than 0.1 second is subject to disqualification.
This aspect means that comparisons with track times are essentially impossible given that a reaction time is not factored in, and the use of hand-timing in the 40-yard dash can considerably alter a runner's time: the methods are not comparable to the rigorous electronic timing used in track and field.
For example, Jacoby Ford, who ran 4.28 s in the 2010 NFL Combine, had a collegiate best of 6.51 s in the 60-meter dash.

Records

claimed to have run a 40-yard dash with a time of 4.13 s, and there were also reports of Jackson running a 4.12 at the 1986 combine. Texas Tech's Jakeem Grant was hand-timed by a New Orleans Saints scout as running a 4.10 in 2016, potentially beating Jackson's record. In the early 1980s, Baylor's Gerald McNeil ran a 4.19-second 40-yard dash before being signed to the United States Football League. Deion Sanders ran a 4.27-second 40-yard dash in 1989.
In 2013, Carlin Isles recorded a time of 4.22 at a Detroit Lions facility during a workout.
In 2017, Olympic sprinter Christian Coleman ran a time of 4.12 seconds on turf in response to claims that NFL players are as fast as Usain Bolt.
A year and a half after he retired from active competition, Usain Bolt ran a 4.22 in running shoes and a tracksuit at a promotional event for the Superbowl in Atlanta, Georgia on February 2, 2019.

NFL Scouting Combine

This is a list of the official 40-yard dash results of under 4.31 seconds recorded at the NFL Scouting combine since 1999, the first year electronic timing was implemented at the NFL Scouting Combine.
TimeNameHeightWeightPositionCollegeYearDraft
4.22John RossWide receiverWashington2017No. 9 overall by Cincinnati Bengals
4.24Rondel MenendezWide receiverEastern Kentucky1999No. 247 overall by Atlanta Falcons
4.24Chris JohnsonRunning backEast Carolina2008No. 24 overall by Tennessee Titans
4.26Jerome MathisWide receiverHampton2005No. 114 overall by Houston Texans
4.26Dri ArcherRunning backKent State2014No. 97 overall by Pittsburgh Steelers
4.27Henry Ruggs IIIWide receiverAlabama2020No. 12 overall by Las Vegas Raiders
4.27Stanford RouttCornerbackHouston2005No. 38 overall by Oakland Raiders
4.27Marquise GoodwinWide receiverTexas2013No. 78 overall by Buffalo Bills
4.28Champ BaileyCornerbackGeorgia1999No. 7 overall by Washington Redskins
4.28Jacoby FordWide receiverClemson2010No. 108 overall by Oakland Raiders
4.28Jalen MyrickCornerbackMinnesota2017No. 222 overall by Jacksonville Jaguars
4.28J. J. NelsonWide receiverUAB2015No. 159 overall by Arizona Cardinals
4.28DeMarcus Van DykeCornerbackMiami2011No. 81 overall by Oakland Raiders
4.29Fabian WashingtonCornerbackNebraska2005No. 23 overall by Oakland Raiders
4.29Zedrick WoodsSafetyMississippi2019Undrafted
4.29Javelin GuidryCornerbackUtah2020TBD
4.30Darrent WilliamsCornerbackOklahoma State2005No. 56 overall by Denver Broncos
4.30Tye HillCornerbackClemson2006No. 15 overall by St. Louis Rams
4.30Yamon FigursWide receiverKansas State2007No. 74 overall by Baltimore Ravens
4.30Darrius Heyward-BeyWide receiverMaryland2009No. 7 overall by Oakland Raiders
4.30Jamel DeanCornerbackAuburn2019No. 94 overall by Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Average time by position

According to a five-year NFL combine report, wide receivers and cornerbacks had the fastest average times at 4.48, followed by running backs at 4.49. The following average times were measured between 2000 and 2012 at the NFL combine for players who played at least 5 games.
PositionTime
Wide receiver4.48
Cornerback4.48
Running back4.49
Free safety4.53
Strong safety4.55
Outside linebacker4.65
Tight end4.70
Inside linebacker4.76
Fullback4.80
Defensive end4.80
Quarterback4.93
Defensive tackle5.06
Center5.30
Offensive tackle5.32
Offensive guard5.36