Add Panthers rookie receiver Devin Funchess to the list of those who don’t think 40-yard dash times at the Scouting Combine are meaningful.
Funchess told Josh Katzenstein of the Detroit News that when he ran a 4.7-second 40, making him the slowest receiver at this year’s Combine, he didn’t allow it to bother him.
“You don’t let people bring you down,” Funchess said. “I proved it to everybody at the pro day. It wasn’t open, as open as I wanted, but there were videos and film. And you can ask any scout there about what I ran. So, I don’t really care about what I ran at the Combine. I know what I know, and my game speed is faster than what most can run.”
Funchess makes a fair point. The fastest receivers at the Combine rarely pan out, and there have been good receivers like Anquan Boldin who ran slow times at the Combine. Speed isn’t everything for an NFL receiver. Especially speed in shorts and a T-shirt.