Saturday saw the crop of wide receivers headed toward the NFL Draft display their talents at the 2016 NFL Scouting Combine and at least one Pro Bowl defensive back isn’t impressed by the incoming class of pass catchers.
Fresh off his second consecutive year being named to the Pro Bowl and a second-team All-Pro, Denver Broncos cornerback Chris Harris Jr. noted that this year’s crop of wideouts doesn’t quite have the speed he’s come to expect from his soon-to-be opponents.
Some slow Wrs coming in the league today lol
— Chris Harris (@ChrisHarrisJr) February 27, 2016
Harris’ observation was backed up by stats parsed by the league and ESPN reporter Adam Schefter. According to stats from Schefter, it was the slowest average speed in the 40-yard dash in the decade-plus that such data has been tracked.
Average 40-yard dash time of WRs at Combine was 4.56 seconds – slowest average time for WRs at a Combine in 11 years the data has been kept.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 27, 2016
Harris, one of the league’s top lockdown corners has room to talk, as his own 40-yard dash time was 4.48. However, his numbers came from his pro day at Kansas, as Harris was not invited to the combine and went undrafted in 2011.
Two of the wide receivers that contributed to that slow average were Colorado products. Both Rashard Higgins (Colorado State) and Nelson Spruce (Colorado) came in on the plus side of that 4.56 average time. Higgins logged a 4.64 and Nelson came in just a few hundredths of a second later at 4.69.
Harris went more than two years without allowing a touchdown to NFL wide receivers, finally surrendering two in one game to Pittsburgh’s Antonio Brown in Week 15 this season. Brown is widely regarded as one of the speediest receivers in the NFL, and twice got behind Harris for scores in a 34-27 Steelers win.
Brown’s time in the 40? A 4.48, at the 2010 NFL Scouting Combine.
That’s not to say that every one of the wideouts at the 2016 combine were heavy in the heels. Ten receivers posted times of 4.48 or faster. The fastest time this year went to Will Fuller of Notre Dame, who clocked a 4.32.