With the confetti cleaned up, the light poles greased, and the Tush Push facing controversy, the 2024 NFL season is truly behind us, and next, fans’ attention will turn forward to 2025. The first major event on the NFL Calendar will take place this weekend in Indianapolis, as more than 300 top college prospects will descend upon Lucas Oil Stadium for the drills, interviews, and testing that will define their chances of being drafted this summer.
All of the league’s top prospects will be invited to participate in several drills, including the 40-yard dash, broad jump, three-cone drill, and the one I’ll be focusing on today: the 20-yard shuttle.
DraftKings Sportsbook has set the over/under on the fastest 20-yard shuttle at 3.955 seconds.
20-Yard Shuttle Testing Rules:
The 20-yard shuttle is one of several tests of quick-twitch agility and explosion, in addition to the three-cone drill and 60-yard shuttle drills. The 20-yard shuttle is especially critical for defensive linemen, since agility and off-the-line explosiveness are arguably the most important two most important aspects of pass-rushing. In the 20-yard shuttle, three cones are placed five yards apart in a straight line. Athletes start in a three-point stance at the middle cone before sprinting towards one of the side cones, tapping the ground near that cone, and running 10 yards to the opposite cone. The drill finishes after the player has tapped the ground near the other side cone, turned around, and passes the middle cone.
NFL Combine 20-Yard Shuttle Record:
Although the drill isn’t quite as important for skill position players, skill position and secondary players hold the records for the fastest 20-yard shuttles every season. The fastest time ever was recorded all the way back in 2001, when former Iowa wide receiver Kevin Kasper recorded a blistering 3.73-second time. Kasper never went on to do much in the NFL, recording only 287 receiving yards in his five-year career, and it didn’t help his draft stock much either, since he wasn’t selected until the 190th overall pick. Since Kasper’s record, South Carolina cornerback Dunta Robinson came the closest, recording a 3.75 in 2004. Since Robinson, no player has recorded better than a 3.80-second finish.
Last season, South Dakota cornerback Myles Harden was the only athlete to break the four-second barrier in the 20-yard shuttle, posting a time of 3.98 seconds. Harden was ultimately a seventh-round pick and only appeared in four games for the Cleveland Browns in 2024. Of the five fastest players in the 20-yard shuttle during the 2024 Combine, only two were major contributors as rookies — Washington Commanders cornerback Mike Sainristil, who posted a 4.01, and Chicago Bears wide receiver Rome Odunze, who finished in 4.03.
Who Will Record the Fastest 20-Yard Shuttle?
While it is mostly skill position and secondary athletes who put up the best times, there are plenty of players at other positions who helped their draft stocks during the 2024 combine by demonstrating great agility and explosiveness. However, there are standouts at other positions every year that give themselves a bump in draft stock. Florida State’s Braden Fiske tied for the third-fastest 20-yard shuttle time among defensive linemen, and he went on to finish third in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting behind his Los Angeles Rams teammate Jared Verse, who posted the fifth-fastest 20-yard shuttle time.
In several drills, athletes have gotten progressively better on a year-to-year basis, but for the 20-yard shuttle, that’s not the case. Last season, no player beat the 3.955-second mark, and in 2023, Ohio State wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba (3.93) was the only player to beat the time. In fact, in 2023, no athlete topped 4.05 seconds besides Smith-Njigba. Only Sam Houston State cornerback Zyon McCollum (3.94) — now a starter for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — beat the mark in 2022, and no player accomplished the feat in 2019 or 2020. It’ll be a tough task for any athlete to top the time this weekend, especially since it’s one of the drills that the fewest athletes participate in.
Last season, Texas wide receiver Xavier Worthy set the record for the fastest 40-yard dash time and didn’t participate in the 20-yard shuttle. One of the top contenders for this season’s fastest 40 belongs to another Texas wideout, projected second-round pick Isaiah Bond. Bond, a five-foot-11, 180-pound speedster, is a star sprinter and former Georgia state champion in the 100 meters, and he is renowned by NFL scouts for his speed, acceleration, and ability to change directions quickly, all traits that indicate he’ll light up the 20-yard shuttle if he chooses to participate. Georgia wideout Arian Smith and Colorado cornerback/wide receiver Travis Hunter, the 2024 Heisman Trophy winner, also stand out as among the most likely contenders to record a 3.95-second 20-yard shuttle.
