What stands out most about this class of incoming NFL rookies: Speed. Blazing, game-breaking speed

INDIANAPOLIS — Terry McLaurin’s tweets were a good reflection of what was unfolding in real-time.

Like practically everyone else watching the 40-yard dash, McLaurin — no stranger to speed himself — couldn’t believe some of the blazing times being posted at this year’s NFL scouting combine.

“BRO WHAT?!,” the Commanders wide receiver tweeted Thursday at 8:16 p.m, including a fire and side-eye emoji. 

“Like he wasn’t even trying, #fastfast,” he added three minutes later.

“Another sub 4.4.,” McLaurin wrote 16 minutes later, this time including a crying emoji.

McLaurin reacted to Chris Olave’s 4.39-second and Garrett Wilson’s 4.38-second sprint — two wide receivers who hail from McLaurin’s alma mater of Ohio State. While they didn’t top McLaurin’s 4.35 from 2019, Olave and Wilson were two of eight receivers who ran the 40-yard in fewer than 4.4 seconds — the most since 2003, according to NFL Research.

In a league in which players seem to get bigger, stronger and faster by the year, that definitely appears to be the case for this year’s incoming rookie class. Executives may not be overly impressed with the top-end talent — Commanders general manager Martin Mayhew called it a “dense” class — but what it does feature is speed, speed and more speed.

It’s not just wide receivers, either. According to the league’s research department, 12 offensive linemen ran a sub-5-second 40-yard dash — more than the last three drafts combined (11). Six running backs recorded a sub 4.4, breaking the total of the past seven combines for that position. Baylor cornerback Kalon Barnes almost broke the all-time record of 4.22 with a 4.23. And the star of this year’s combine might have been Georgia’s Jordan Davis, who ran a 4.78 — at 6-foot-6 and 341 pounds.

Davis, a defensive tackle, ran faster than quarterbacks like Patrick Mahomes and Baker Mayfield — despite outweighing them by more than 100 pounds.

“The game is changing,” said former Sam Houston State cornerback Zyon McCollum, who ran a 4.33 on Sunday. “This is probably the fastest combine I’ve ever witnessed. Speed is definitely a tool you want to have and you want to covet. I’m blessed to be fast myself and run with these guys. … I know it’s something you have to have going into this league.”

A lot can ride on a player’s speed. Projected as a Day 3 prospect, McCollum said teams often inquired about what he’d run in the 40 because the time could determine whether the 22-year-old would be better suited to play cornerback or safety. 

Still, that McCollum even posted the time that he did is somewhat remarkable — when factoring in that he stands at 6-foot-2. According to Pro Football Reference, from 2000 to 2021, only 49 players at least 6-foot-2 have ran at least a 4.4.  Of those 49, 11 played defense and only two were cornerbacks.

This year’s testing has featured a number of players above 6-foot-2 who will add to those totals. Baylor’s Tyquan Thornton, at 6-foot-3, thought he broke John Ross’ combine record of 4.22 when he ran an unofficial 4.21, but the time was officially corrected to 4.28. 

The University of Texas at San Antonio’s Tariq Woolen wowed with a 4.26. The cornerback is 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds.

“Nowadays things are different,” Woolen said Saturday. “I ran track in my younger years of life throughout high school. That speed carried on through college. I wasn’t always as fast as I am now.”

Woolen credited his background in track and training over the years to help contribute to his current speed.  To prepare for the combine, Woolen trained with a group of players in Florida — including Thornton. The group tracked each other’s times and focused on trying to become more explosive, he said. 

Even as speed improves, the debate over the 40-yard dash’s usefulness has continued to stir. Critics argue that game speed is vastly different and doesn’t always necessarily translate to the 40, where players run in a straight line without pads. Some teams like the Los Angeles Rams have all but disregarded the 40-yard dash— instead tracking speed by using GPS-driven data. 

But speed itself has only continued to be more emphasized in the NFL, particularly as teams rush to find dynamic players like Kansas City’s Tyreek Hill and San Francisco’s Deebo Samuel.  McCollum noted the difference in how the NFL has become more “spread out,” with defenses relying on fewer eight-man boxes and more cornerbacks to match up with the variety of receivers and diverse formations. 

“As time goes, I’m sure in 10 or 20 years, more records will be broken, more athletes will be bred into this game,” McCollum said. “It’s pretty cool.”