For most positions, the 40-yard dash doesn’t mean much. Those players will run 40 yards in a straight line during a game only when something very good, or very bad, is happening on the field.
For receivers, it’s far more relevant. And Mississippi State receiver Brenan Thompson ran a blazing 40-yard dash on Saturday in Indianapolis.
Via Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com, Thompson generated the fastest 40 at the 2026 Scouting Combine, at 4.26 seconds. Unless one of the offensive linemen does something extremely unexpected on Sunday, Thompson will be the 40 king of this year’s workouts.
The number puts Thompson only 0.05 seconds behind the Combine record of 4.21 seconds, set two years ago by Chiefs receiver Xavier Worthy.
Thompson lands in a five-way tie for the fifth-fastest all-time 40-yard dash in Indy. Still, there’s not much of a correlation between ridiculous straight-line speed and NFL success. The best of the fastest players was running back Chris Johnson, who ran a 4.24-second 40 in 2008.
Still, it’s always better to be fast. And Thompson proved on Saturday that he’s among the fastest to ever run the 40 in Indianapolis.
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