At the Scouting Combine in February, Mississippi receiver Laquon Treadwell chose not to run the 40-yard dash. On Monday, he ran. And he didn’t generate the kind of times that will cause him to rocket up the board.
Treadwell ran, officially, a 4.63-second and 4.65-second 40-yard dash at his Pro Day workout.
That’s still faster than Anquan Boldin’s 4.72-second 40-yard dash from 2003, and it’s one of the reasons why he slid all the way to pick No. 54.
But that won’t be nearly enough to get Treadwell taken near the top of the 2016 draft. Scouts and General Managers have a bit of a CYA streak, and if a fast guy busts they can at least tell the owner that the guy was fast. When a slow guy busts, there’s no safe harbor.
Which means that someone with a secure situation and a need at receiver could end up with a very good receiver. Or at least won’t have to worry about being fired if Treadwell doesn’t end up being any good.
That’s how the 40-yard dash, which means little when it comes to predicting football success, has real significance to the draft process.