Green Bay, Wisconsin – In the 1986 film Top Gun, Tom Cruise’s “Maverick” character famously stated, “I feel the need – the need for speed!” If Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst believes he needs to increase speed to his linebacker depth chart – a position of need entering the 2024 NFL Draft – he’ll be pleased with Thursday night’s track event at the Scouting Combine in Indianapolis
Seven linebackers broke 4.60 seconds in the 40-yard dash, led by North Carolina State’s Payton Wilson who ran a surprising 4.43. The tale of the tape, er, stopwatch: Wilson scored 4.43. Kalen DeLoach of Florida State: 4.47. (But only 5-foot-11, 210 pounds.
Edgerrin Cooper of Texas A&M, 4.51. Trevin Wallace, Kentucky: 4.52. Jordan Magee, Temple: 4.55. Edefuan Ulofoshio, Washington: 4.56. Curtis Jacobs, Penn State: 4.58.
The past Scouting Combine average for an off-the-ball linebacker is 4.72 seconds. For reference, here are the 40 times for the three linebackers that played the majority of Green Bay’s snaps last season: 2022 first-round selection Quay Walker, a 2021 sixth-round pick, ran his in 4.52 seconds. Isaiah McDuffie ran 4.61 seconds, while De’Vondre Campbell, Atlanta’s 2016 fourth-round pick, ran 4.58.
Last year, nine linebackers broke 4.60, but the majority of them weren’t elite prospects. Cooper (ranked third), Wilson (ranked fourth), Magee (ranked seventh), and Jacobs (ranked tenth) were among the quickest linebackers in NFL.com’s pre-Scouting Combine rankings this year. While Michigan’s Junior Colson and Clemson’s Jeremiah Trotter did not run the 40, North Carolina’s Cedric Gray was the slowest among NFL.com’s top ten, clocking in at 4.64 seconds. Perhaps no one made more money than Wilson. “I’m just excited to get to continue to prove to everyone that I’m one of the most athletic linebackers to ever come through this Combine and I’m looking to impress a lot of people,” Wilson told reporters on the morning of the Combine. Mission completed.
