What 40 Yard Dash Times Produce The Best Running Backs
Using the 40 yard dash times we’ll find which Running Backs have the most success in the NFL
The 40 yard dash is a staple of the NFL combine, where the best college athletes show their explosiveness, agility, and speed to impress teams. Back in 2008 a running back by the name of Chris Johnson broke the 40 yard dash record by posting a time of 4.24. A time that would be held for over a decade. Chris Johnson was one of the fastest players in NFL’s history and made his mark in 2009 when he became only 1 of 7 players to rush for over 2000 yards in a season. Speed Kills in the NFL!!!… Or does it?
This got me thinking, Chris Johnson was a great running back but not the best at that time. The best was Adrian Peterson who was much slower than Chris Johnson. So does speed really kill when it comes to running backs? That’s what were going to find out.
Using data from Pro-Football Reference, I gathered every running backs 40 yard dash time from the last 20 years, and their career stats up to the present. Using only running backs who averaged over 30 rushing attempts per season, these are the results.
