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2016 NFL Scouting Combine: 40 record safe for now

By Carl Cockerham

Feb 25, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish wide receiver Will Fuller speaks to the media during the 2016 NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 25, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish wide receiver Will Fuller speaks to the media during the 2016 NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports /
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Feb 25, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish wide receiver Will Fuller speaks to the media during the 2016 NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 25, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish wide receiver Will Fuller speaks to the media during the 2016 NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports /

Chris Johnson’s 40-yard dash record of 4.24 seconds was supposed to at least be threatened this year. Some serious speedsters came to the 2016 NFL Scouting Combine including an Olympic level sprinter. But if that record is to be broken or threatened this year, it won’t be by an offensive player.

Notre Dame speedster Will Fuller and 10-flat 100 meter runner Kolby Listenbee to their respective cracks at in Saturday. And while they both blazed their 40-yard dashes, neither came up as the new record holder. Fuller, with a 4.32, came out on top of all the receivers over Listenbee, who ran a 4.35.

Neither one has the best 40, of all the offensive players with the distinction belonging to Georgia running back Keith Marshall, who showed up on the scouts’ radar with a 4.31. Of the two receivers, Fuller is the higher-rated draft prospect because of the plays he’s made on the football field.

But a big knock on him is that he has a tendency to drop way too may catchable footballs. NFL Media draft expert Mike Mayock said during Saturday’s broadcast on NFL Network. “He fights the football a little like Ted Ginn.” But overall, Mayock compared Fuller to Denver Broncos receiver Emmanuel Sanders.

NFL Media analyst and Hall of Fame receiver Michael Irvin still believes in Fuller saying, “T.O. dropped a lot of balls. T.O. is about to be a Hall of Famer,”

Listenbee, with his legit track speed, will be intriguing to a teams looking to get faster to throw deep too. Mayock compared him to Minnesota Vikings receiver Mike Wallace for his ability to take the top off a defense with that elite speed. Both players have futures in the NFL but Johnson’s record is safe until the defensive backs run their 40s.

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