WATCH: Nolan Smith 40-yard dash overlayed against Saquon Barkley, Christian McCaffrey
Nolan Smith’s 40-yard dash raised plenty of eyebrows at the NFL scouting combine on Thursday. In fact, he ran faster than two of the league’s highest-profile running backs.
The NFL Network put together a one of its “Simulcam” shots and overlayed Smith’s 40-yard dash against Saquon Barkley and Christian McCaffrey from their respective combines. The former Georgia star was faster than them both with a 4.39 official time. Barkley ran a 4.40 and McCaffrey ran a 4.48.
“Come on,” Daniel Jeremiah said on the broadcast. “Unbelievable.”
However, immediately after his impressive run, Smith wasn’t satisfied. In fact, slammed his phone on the ground after getting the unofficial time of 4.44 seconds. NFL Network’s Stacey Dales spoke with him about his disappointment, and there’s a reason for it.
“I went over and I asked him, ‘What was wrong with that? That was a great performance in all aspects.’ He said, ‘You know what? I wasn’t running full speed,’” Dales said. “I said, ‘What?’ … He was livid because he told me, ‘I’ve been training in the 4.3s for the 40. That wasn’t up to my standards.’”
Dales then caught up with Smith afterward and he explained his reaction.
“I was just upset, I really wanted to just do everything full speed today,” Smith said. “I thought I didn’t run my best race. … I thought I had a little more juice. I felt like I was going 85%.”
Then, Smith got word of the official time of 4.39. When Dales told him that number, his face lit up — and he shared his motivation, including the memory of former teammate Devin Willock, who was killed in a car accident in January.
“That made my day. … That got me really going,” Smith said when he found out his official time. “I just wanted to do it for my mom and do it for Dev, man. Shoutout to 77. I love you, baby.”