Former Georgia football running back Elijah Holyfield had 40-yard-dash times around 4.8 seconds in his two attempts at the NFL Draft Combine.
It’s hard to believe that in 2019, people are still making a big deal of the 40-yard-dash. While it is a great way to judge straight-line takeoff speed. It’s never proven to be a good judge for on-field performance. At least not so much to have a drastic negative effect on a players draft stock.
Yet, following Elijah Holyfield’s two 40-yard-dash attempts, armchair scouts and social media commentators everywhere are acting like Holyfield ruined his NFL Draft stock. All of the sudden, Holyfield is too slow to be a NFL running back. He’s now going to be an undrafted free agent. He should have stayed in school. Does this look like a slow running back to you?
If you think a 4.7 40-yard-dash time really is going to have that big of an affect on Holyfield’s status in the draft, you must also believe that shuttle speed, vision, power and all of the intangibles don’t matter. No NFL team was going to draft Holyfield because they thought he was a burner. Now, if Holyfield had ran a better 40, he may have gotten himself some more attention. Possibly enough to climb in the draft. But this in no way changes how the teams looking at him feel.
A NFL team is going to draft Holyfield because they want a bruiser. They are looking for a back who could power through the line, truck or stiff arm a defender for extra yards. Holyfield can do all of that. He carries weaker defenders, His stiff arms are reminiscent of his father’s jabs. He has a good enough stutter step. And most of all, he’s got an eye for the open field.
Regardless of his 40-time, Holyfield will still have one more chance to impress scouts at the UGA Pro Day on March 20. But, NFL scouts are smart enough to know game film is much more valuable to judge players than the combine. When scouts see the film, knowing all of his stats from the combine, they’ll all think highly of him as a power back.