It seems like we’ve barely inhaled since the Eagles won the Super Bowl earlier this month, but here we are. The NFL Combine is upon us, and many of the sport’s top prospects are headed to Indianapolis to showcase their athletic prowess in hopes to bolster their various draft values. Having said that, Shedeur Sanders—undeniably this draft class’s most marquee name, will not be participating. Plenty of other speedsters with massive potential NFL and fantasy football rookie upside, however, will dig deep and try to clear the vaunted 4.40 threshold. In what’s become the marquee event of the Combine, everyone will be competing for the fastest 40-yard dash time in 2025.
The last time we’ve seen a meaningful conversion between outstanding 40-yard dash time and actual NFL production is as recently as this year; the Kansas City Chiefs’ Xavier Worthy, who ran an all-time best 4.21 in Indianapolis just last year. He, of course, went on to have an impressive rookie campaign that saw some of his most electric, explosive plays in the postseason.
Others haven’t been so successful. John Ross, who held the record at 4.22 before Worthy’s 4.21, flamed out after a few hopeful-but-flat campaigns with the Cincinatti Bengals and New York Giants.
Currently, the odds at DraftKings Sportsbook have the line for the 40-yard dash speed set at 4.255 seconds, so oddsmakers think it’s unlikely anyone’s gunning for Worthy’s record. Having said that, I might be a little more bullish on one prospect’s potential.
Many folks might expect to see dual-threat prospect Travis Hunter atop this list, but he falls just outside this list for me. Below are my top-three favorite candidates to post the fastest 40-yard dash times.
Best bets to run fastest 40-yard dash at the 2025 NFL Combine
Isaiah Bond, WR, Texas Longhorns
A lot of people think Bond could take his consensus-top-five-but-not-quite-top-two speed and blow everyone else out of the water at the combine this week. That likely has to do with hype, seeing as his former teammate, Xavier Worthy, currently holds the all-time record for the 40-yard dash at the Combine. Bond notably took to social media last year to rib Worthy, and let him know the record isn’t safe.
There’s been plenty of ballyhoo from Bond’s former offensive coordinator, Steve Sarkisian, too, as Bond’s trip to Indianapolis approaches. Talking about Bond’s ability to take short routes and make them house calls, etc. I’m not quite buying into it.
Everything about Bond’s profile—he’s only 180 pounds and 5’11″—screams slot receiver who uses his quickness at the break-points of routes as opposed to a top-end, north-south speed asset. That profile more accurately fits the next two wide receivers on my shortlist.
Monaray Baldwin, WR, Baylor Bears
Baldwin is likely the name on this list with which folks are most unfamiliar, and that’s because his Baylor Bears didn’t even sniff the expanded College Football Playoff this season. And, frankly, he’s a day-three prospect at best for me, if only because he’s terrifically undersized (5’9″ 172 pounds; just about the same build as the premier infield prospect for the Boston Red Sox, Ceddanne Rafaela) and had a lackluster 2024 season in which he caught only 27 passes.
His name on this list has everything to do with his raw speed, and not his ability to be a productive NFL wide receiver. 4.3 seems like a foregone conclusion for Baldwin, and he could break that 4.255 threshold at DraftKings Sportsbook.
He’ll be among the fastest in Indianapolis, but Baldwin has a lot to do before we consider him superlative at anything that might suggest NFL success.
Arian Smith, WR, Georgia Bulldogs
If there’s anyone who has a shot to beat Xavier Worthy’s time of 4.21, it’s Smith. And, indeed—he has a track background to bolster this pedigree.
Some of his notable track accomplishments, as it relates to speed:
- Florida statewide winner in 200M dash
- 2019 Nike Elite Prefontaine Classic elite 100M (boys) winner
- Sub-10.20 100M dash time at Georgia University
Smith’s stats at Georgia in 2024—undeniably his best season—weren’t exactly gamebreaking, or even eye-popping: 48/817/4. But the marked increase between those numbers and his near-invisible 2023 have everything to do with his speed. His average yards at the catch last season was just a fraction below 20 yards per.
The track record(s)—quite literally, in this case—suggest the sort of athleticism and explosiveness that should come very close to clearing that 4.255 threshold at which DraftKings Sportsbook currently has the fastest-time market set.
