Combine RB Workout Results: Jonathan Taylor leads the way with 4.39 40

The Green Bay Packers had one of the best running backs in the NFL in 2019, and the top back in college football also resided in the state. That was Jonathan Taylor of the Wisconsin Badgers, who won the Doak Walker Award as the best player at the position in each of the past two seasons.

Taylor’s production on the ground at Wisconsin is undeniable, and although he still has some questions to deal with in the passing game, he should be a second day pick at the very latest. But on Friday at the 2020 NFL Combine, Taylor took a huge step towards making himself a first-round pick in April’s draft.

Prior to the Combine, online sportsbook BetOnline.ag put the over/under on Taylor’s official 40 time at 4.51 seconds. For a former track star who had timed in the 4.3s last summer and has recorded times as fast as 10.49 seconds in the 100-meter dash, this seemed like a grave disrespect.

Indeed, Taylor went out and blew away that projected, pacing the entire running back field with an official time of 4.39 seconds. Taylor looked tremendously smooth, particularly in his start as his track background shone through. Taylor then went and posted a top-five time in the 3-cone drill as well, with a 7.01-second time.

The next-best time in the 40 belonged to Darrynton Evans of Appalachian State, who recorded an official time of 4.41. But perhaps the best overall workout behind Taylor’s belonged to Boston College’s A.J. Dillon, a 247-pound back. He ran the 40 in an excellent 4.53 seconds, then led the position in explosiveness drills with a 41-inch vertical and a 10-foot-11 broad jump.

Here’s the complete list of workout results for the running backs.