Brady Poppinga: 40-Yard Dash ‘Valuable Currency’ For Prospects At Combine

The difference between a great 40-yard time at the NFL Scouting Combine and a disappointing one could be millions of dollars for young players.

While there are arguments over the on-field drill’s ability to effectively evaluate a player’s football ability, the 40-yard dash certainly has the potentital to increase prospects’ draft stocks, which can mean oodles of more cash for them, former linebacker Brady Poppinga writes in his latest post for Football by Football.

“After all the acknowledgements from people inside and outside of football over the years on the minor utility of the test, as a player, you still know how fast you run the 40 will increase or decrease your stock,” Poppinga writes. “By running a fast time at the combine, some prospects will earn hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars on their rookie deal. At the same time, a poor time could cost a player hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars.”

That held true for Poppinga, who says that his impressive 40-yard time added roughly $350,000 to his rookie contract. Although a good time can’t predict who will find success in the NFL, Poppinga maintains that the event is “very valuable currency” at the combine.

“As a player, this is the obvious contradiction you have to grind through,” Poppinga writes. “Training hard for a drill that doesn’t have much football translation, but that matters significantly in the perception of one’s draft stock. That’s the NFL scouting process in a nutshell.”