LSU receiver Justin Jefferson wasn’t sure what he would run in the 40-yard dash. He ran in the high 4.4s while training, and pre-Combine odds had him in the low 4.5s.
“The whole question of the whole Combine was whether I was going to be fast enough or whether I was going to get a good time in the 40,” Jefferson told Ian Rapoport on his RapSheet and Friends podcast.
So when Jefferson turned in an automatic time of 4.43 at the Combine, it surprised him . . . and perhaps scouts, too.
“Definitely,” Jefferson said. “Everybody from each team thought I was going to run like a 4.5, 4.6., so just going out there and running that 4.4 and just showing the ability, that I have speed, is just [an] extra accessory to my game.”
NFL Media draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah said the time was “huge” for Jefferson’s draft stock.
Jefferson, who made 111 catches for 1,540 yards and 18 touchdowns, is projected to go in the first round.