Is This Really the Fastest Combine of All Time?
We’ve seen some position-best scores and position-best averages advertised by the NFL and posted across social media. But there may be more to than meets the eye with these kinds of scores
This year’s NFL Combine purports to be the fastest combine in NFL history. In addition to record-breaking performances from Kenyon Sadiq, Lorenzo Styles Jr. and Sonny Styles, we’ve seen overall performances at the NFL Combine jump ahead of what we’ve seen historically. To the best of our verification ability, this is the fastest NFL Combine class of all time.
While that might not be a perfect indicator of talent, it certainly is exciting; we could be watching historic moments in a historic class that may or may not pan out but certainly has the juice to alter the geometry of football.
But something feels off.
While some elements of this class — like linebacker — are considered to be strong relative to the past few years, the way draft experts have talked about the class has been pessimistic. In fact, many scouts and draft analysts Wide Left spoke to in Indianapolis regard this as the worst draft class in over a decade, with some saying it’s the worst since the much-reviled 2013 draft class.
That’s not to say that we should expect that the fastest players are the best players and that the fastest classes are the highest-quality classes, but athleticism is broadly correlated to talent, even if that relationship isn’t rock solid.
Surely, if a draft class was genuinely the fastest we’ve ever seen, people would not think of it in terms of some of the worst classes the draft has ever produced. After all, scouts chase upside.
Exploring the question of whether this class was genuinely as dramatically fast as the numbers indicate doesn’t just serve as an exploration in how many different ways we can arrive at particular types of data, but also how difficult it can be to make sure one is acquiring the correct data in the first place.
Are Players Getting Faster?
First, we should validate these findings. Are players at the NFL Combine posting faster times?
Yes.
This is a general trend we have seen since 2006, but the changes in speed were gradual and uneven across groups. It’s easier to identify when we move from overall 40 time (by combine-designated position group) to 40 time against positional average.
And then it becomes even easier when we average across positions (choosing to treat each position as one unit rather than being subject to the problems of uneven distribution of player invites across positions).
This makes it clear that, before ever including the 2026 data, there was already a trend of faster 40-yard dash times over the years. But 2026 represents a meteoric leap.
That change is substantial and warrants a deeper look. NFL players didn’t just post faster times in 2026; they posted blazing times. It’s also the case that prospects posted the best vertical leaps and broad jumps in NFL Combine history, something we can validate against the prior 20 combines.
NFL players are producing historic bests in 40-yard dash times, vertical leap and broad jump… but historic worsts in the agility drills.
This could be our first clue. It may not necessarily be because NFL players are actually faster.
Data Validation
Before we dig any further, it is imperative that we learn another lesson: get the right data! It is surprisingly difficult to obtain data from the NFL combine over the years. That’s not because the NFL hasn’t been diligent about posting combine data over time as the event has gained prominence, but because the sources we generally use aren’t ensuring the results are accurate.
