Speed was the buzz word during the Tuesday morning workouts at the NFL Combine as the defensive backs hit the field. In the 40-yard dash, the group was flying, turning in some of the fastest times of the combine, with one player breaking the 4.3-second barrier. LSU’s Patrick Peterson, the top defensive back in the draft, and Nebraska’s Prince Amukamara, the second-best back in the draft, lived up to the hype, turning in some of the fastest times of the session and setting stopwatches ablaze.
Peterson, widely seen as a top-five pick, ran in the 4.3 second range, displaying excellent speed at 219 pounds. But it was Miami’s DeMarcus Van Dyke stealing the show, setting a combine record while running in the high 4.2 second range. With plenty of speed, and exceptional athletes, dotting the cornerback class of 2011, it’s likely we’ll see more than a few of these players off the board early in the draft.
Here’s a few of the top performers from Tuesday’s early workouts.
DeMarcus Van Dyke 4.28
Patrick Peterson 4.34
Chimdi Chekwa 4.40
Chris Culliver 4.40
Prince Amukamara 4.43
Joe Lefeged 4.43
Ras I Dowling 4.46
Curtis Marsh 4.46
Byron Maxwell 4.46
Jimmy Smith 4.46
Shareece Wright 4.46
Buster Skrine 4.48
Chykie Brown 4.50
Davon House 4.50
Justin Rogers 4.50
Skrine clocked the fastest unofficial time of the morning on the NFL Network stopwatches, running a 4.29 and 4.38 40-yard dash, but the electronic timing said otherwise. Skrine was flying, running the 4.38 after stumbling out of the blocks. Overall, the cornerbacks turned in top-times all morning long, showing off impressive speed in the drills.
The safeties, on the other hand, didn’t fare so well in the 40. Rahim Moore, the top safety in the class, was quick, but it was a cornerback-dominated competition. With Peterson, Jimmy Smith and Amukamara running well, it’s clear the group is the cream of the crop in the 2011 draft class.
For more results from the workouts, check out the rest of our 2011 NFL Combine StoryStream.