How A 40-Yard Dash Can Determine Your Salary

A player who struggles in the 40 yard dash will tell you that the 40 yard dash does not matter. He will tell you that it does not compare to his game speed and it's an unfair evaluation. But, the 40 yard dash is important to scouts and decision makers around the world in every major professional football league, so it should be important for every aspiring professional to train to run the best 40 yard dash he can. It's a unique drill that combines God given speed and technique, the fastest runners must have both to conquer this drill and record an acceptable time by NFL standards. 

Paul Newton
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It takes an estimated 300 to 400 milliseconds to blink your eye, the difference between a 4.30 (second) 40 yard dash and a 4.60 40 yard dash is just that, plus potentially millions of dollars if you are a player trying to enter the National Football League. A 4.30 40 yard dash is the elite of the elite, while a 4.60 is just a player with average speed. 

Though a faster 40 yard dash time does not guarantee a higher selection (and salary) over one with a slower time, it can definitely propel you or hurt you. In 2014, out of 32 NFL teams, 14 teams drafted a wide receiver or defensive back in the first round of the NFL draft. Out of those 14 players, just one player ran above a 4.60 in the 40 yard dash, and that was Kelvin Benjamin, one of the biggest wide receiver prospects in this year's draft at 6'5''. So, out of the 14 position players that NFL organizations identified as top prospects entering the NFL in 2014, just one ran slower than a 4.60. This is a fact and trend that cannot be ignored or denied.