These guys are fast, but are they ‘historically’ fast?
PublishedMarch 1, 2026 12:00 PM EST•UpdatedMarch 1, 2026 11:54 AM EST
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The NFL Scouting Combine is winding down this weekend, and there have been plenty of performances that have opened the eyes of both fans and scouts.
Every time you turn around, it seems like someone is running a sub-4.4 second 40-yard dash or setting some kind of NFL Combine sprinting record at Lucas Oil Stadium.
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I’m not sure about anyone else, but this got me to ask a very legitimate question: are college football players getting any faster?
It feels like there were a ton of new records being set over the weekend, and while the data would tell us that this year represents a much higher mark than the 20-year average, 2026 may not be all that different to some of the more recent Combines in terms of raw speed.
Sure, guys like Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green and Oregon tight end Kenyon Sadiq set 40-yard dash records for their respective positions, and there have been plenty of other impressive performances from players at positions that aren’t generally known for their speed.
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However, when we break down some of the raw data, 2026 isn’t all that atypical from 2025 when it comes to everyone’s favorite indoor sprint.
When you look at NFL Combine 40-yard dash times from 2005-2025, there were an average of just over 13 players that ran sub-4.4 second 40-yard dashes, and roughly 50 players per Combine that ran sub-4.5.
While the number of sub-4.4 performances increased significantly to 22 in 2026 as well as the number of sub-4.5 second 40 times (63), 2026 had the same number of sub-4.4 times as 2025.
This means we are seeing numbers continue to tick up from the national average, but 2026 isn’t the kind of statistical anomaly it may seem like upon first glance.
We also had a couple of players break into the 4.2 range, including Mississippi State wide receiver Brenen Thompson’s blazing 4.26 40-yard dash.
However, when you consider Xavier Worthy just set the Combine record with a 4.21 just two years earlier, these times aren’t totally outlandish.
So, have college football players gotten any faster? Kind of.
We saw some speed records get broken at different positions, some of which have been standing for a long time, but we also had an identical number of standout performances from the year before.
Then again, we haven’t seen o-linemen, kickers, or punters run yet, so there’s still time to juice those numbers even more.
A man can dream!
