Will Miami Hurricanes WR Xavier Restrepo’s 40 Time Hurt His Draft Stock? The Inside Story Behind His Pro Day Ordeal

Miami Hurricanes slot receiver Xavier Restrepo was doubted as a high school recruit, with naysayers calling him too slow or too small to be a great college player. He was a 3-star recruit coming out of Deerfield Beach High School, and you had to go pretty far down the rankings to find him … there were 644 other players rated ahead of him.

Fast-forward to Restrepo’s Year 2 at Miami, and he flashed with 373 yards on 24 catches, but in 2022 he missed five games injured and had 240 yards. Then it all came together in 2023 and 2024, as he became the first Hurricane in history to put up back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons.

The doubters were silenced.

Until Monday, that is.

At Miami’s Pro Day at the Carol Soffer Indoor Practice Facility, Restrepo ran his highly anticipated 40, and was timed in the low 4.8s. Most scouts entering the event were whispering he needed a sub-4.6 second time to be drafted as high as perhaps the second or third rounds.

After he ran those 4.8 times speculation was he would drop to the fifth round … or lower. Some thought he might even drop out of the draft, considering no receiver under 5’10 had ever been drafted running a 4.8 time. Restrepo, who checked in at 5’9 1/2 and 202 pounds, also had a short shuttle time of 4.21 seconds that was slower than, for instance, Meesh Powell’s 4.10.

A saving grace was Restrepo was his always-reliable self in passing drills with Cam Ward, running precise routes and grabbing everything that hit his hands.

Which brings us back to that 40.

As any NFL agent will tell you, they aren’t going to let their players compete in testing hurt, or not fully prepared. It simply doesn’t reflect well. It’s why you saw Elijah Arroyo only do bench testing his entire process after he suffered a bone bruise injury in the Senior Bowl – he wasn’t able to train to show off his peak skills through his test results. So Arroyo’s pass receiving work on Monday and his film from the season will speak for itself.

Restrepo’s film from the last two years will do the same. So will his receiving work from Pro Day.

So it’s really that 40 which has all those naysayers coming back.

But he says now that there is a story behind that 40 time.

Restrepo told CaneSport on Tuesday evening that when he felt his hamstring tighten up before the 40, he didn’t inform agent Drew Rosenhaus. He didn’t tell his family. He’d worked too hard, for too long, to miss his moment.

“I had to compete – it was no question,” he says.

He thought he could still run a fast enough time after hitting in the mid-4.5’s in laser testing in his training leading up to his two 40s at the IPF.

“I thought I could still do it,” he said. “It was all me. I’m a competitor at heart, and me hurting something has never stopped me from competing.”

Restrepo now regrets the decision, saying “Should I have not ran the 40 knowing that I was limited? Yes, but it is what it is.”

Restrepo tells us he thinks the injury occurred because he’s been training so hard for an event his body isn’t used to. The 40, after all, isn’t a football-specific activity.

“I think that’s why I might have had the hamstring problem – I’ve been training for the 40 and not for football,” Restrepo said. “I’ve always prepared to be the best football player, not the fastest one.”

NFL teams, of course, now know the situation. Restrepo says there is no plan right now for him to be able to re-run it at a private event, given he has the injury and the draft is coming up fast. The hope is NFL teams will understand his mindset, believe the times he was running prior to Pro day, and let his film speak for itself.

“I mean, it’s the National Football League, right? Not the National Speed League,” Restrepo said. “I’m a football player, and the film shows that.”

Oh, and as for those naysayers?

Restrepo plans to prove them wrong, but this time in the NFL. He says people doubting him “is the story of my life.”

“I laugh at it at this point because it’s the same thing at each and every level,” he says. “So nothing new. I’ve become comfortable being uncomfortable.”