Georgia running back Elijah Holyfield was hoping for a big Pro Day after running a slow 40-yard dash at the Scouting Combine. It didn’t happen.
D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Holyfield’s first 40-yard dash today at Georgia was clocked at 4.81, 4.78 and 4.76 seconds by various people in attendance. Holyfield’s second 40-yard dash was timed at 4.86 and 4.89.
Those simply aren’t the times of an NFL running back, and they failed to improve on the 4.79 and 4.81-second 40-yard dashes Holyfield ran at the Combine. He’s a 4.8 40 guy, and that’s going to make it tough for him to get drafted.
Holyfield, the son of former heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield, was a productive player at Georgia last year, carrying 159 times for 1,018 yards. But sometimes production even at the highest levels of college football doesn’t translate to NFL success, and those 40 times are going to be a serious red flag. It’s possible that he’ll buck the trends, but few running backs with 40 times that slow make it in the NFL.