Top 27 fastest 40-yard dash times recorded in NFL Scouting Combine history

The NFL Combine allows players the chance to work out in front of and meet with team representatives. Draft hopefuls are looking to increase their respective draft stocks. The workouts test any number of physical qualities, but the most anticipated is arguably the 40-yard dash.

Whether it is Rich Eisen running the 40-yard dash to raise money for St. Jude Children’s Hospital or near 400-pound linemen doing their best sprints, it is an entertaining event. Sometimes, when you see a player get off the line and make their way down the field, you can just tell they are flying. Players are getting faster and stronger, making the 40-yard dash must-see TV.

Participants this season will look to turn heads by setting the fastest 40-time possible, with a chance at history. The fastest 40-yard dash recorded at the Combine belongs to wide receiver John Ross, who ran an insane 4.22 at the 2017 Combine. It was a weaker wide receiver class, but you have to assume that his deep-threat ability is what influenced the Cincinnati Bengals to draft him as No. 9 overall.

Speed doesn’t automatically guarantee a high draft pick, as cornerback Kalon Barnes found out. Despite his 4.23-second 40-yard dash in 2023, Barnes was a seventh-round pick in 2022. He has bounced around practice squads over his brief two-year career, most recently signing a reserve/futures contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

East Carolina running back Chris Johnson held the 40-yard dash record for 11 years before Ross broke it in 2017. Johnson ran a 4.24 40, tying wide receiver Rondel Menendez for the fastest 40-yard dash at the Combine ever. The running back disputes whether or not Ross actually broke the record, but at the very least, the Washington wideout is recognized as the fastest 40-yard dash time ever.