NFL Draft: FCS Players Show Off Their Speed
There's plenty of speed coming out of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).
Exhibit A: The 2022 National Football League Scouting Combine 40-Yard Dash Results.
Running stride for stride with prospects from the Power 5 conferences, FCS players accounted for the fastest recorded 40 times at two positions: linebacker and running back.
FCS prospects were responsible for top-three 40-yard dash performances at five different positions.
All-America linebacker Troy Andersen, who spent time on both sides of the ball during his Montana State career, clocked the fastest 40 time among participating linebackers.
Coming off a college campaign that ended in the NCAA FCS Championship Game, Andersen, who won the 2021 FCS ADA National Defensive Player of the Year award, ran 40 yards in 4.42 to top the field in Indianapolis.
NFL Draft Bible founder Ric Serritella projected the Miami Dolphins to select Andersen at No. 50 overall (second round) in his post-Combine Mock Draft.
Eric Galko, the director of operations for the East-West Shrine Bowl, shared his thoughts in a March 5 tweet, stating, "Troy Andersen is special. Took only a handful of plays early this season at Montana State to see his upside."
South Dakota State product Pierre Strong completed the 40 in 4.37 to finish tied for first place among 2022 running backs at the Combine.
Strong, who rushed for 112.4 yards per game en-route to a 2021 Stats Perform FCS All-America selection, matched 40 times with Big Ten running back Isaih Pacheco (Rutgers).
Northern Iowa tackle Trevor Penning, who saw his stock rise during Combine week according to Draft Bible reports, used his long stride to record one of the fastest 40 times among offensive line prospects.
Penning recorded a sub-4.90 mark, tying two FBS linemen for the second-fastest time in Indianapolis at 4.89. The 6-foot-7 mauler will likely become the second UNI tackle selected in the NFL Draft top 100 in as many years. The Buffalo Bills selected Penning's former linemate Spencer Brown at No. 93 overall last spring and he made 10 starts at right tackle for the 2021 AFC East Champions.
Serritella slotted Penning as a first-round pick in his March 7 NFL Mock Draft, sending the UNI bookend to the Patriots at No. 21 overall.
Brown quarterback EJ Perry, who has gained notoriety in recent weeks, posted the second-fastest 40-yard dash among signal-callers at the Combine.
Perry, the 2021 Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year, clocked in at 4.65 to finish in between Cincinnati's Desmond Ridder (4.52) and Pittsburgh's Kenny Pickett (4.73).
Perry also accounted for the fastest 3-cone drill (6.85) and 20-yard shuttle (4.18) times among quarterback participants. Following a day of workouts, he went "viral" on Twitter after media personality Kimmi Chex posted a video of Brown's former signal-caller cleaning up trash from the bench area.
Sam Houston State's Zyon McCollum, who garnered attention during Senior Bowl week, registered the third-fastest 40 time among cornerback participants at the Combine. The consensus 2021 FCS All-America defensive back ran 4.33 with only Baylor's Kalon Barnes (4.23) and UTSA's Tariq Woolen (4.26) running faster among the position group.
South Carolina State cornerback Decobie Durant, the 2021 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year, clocked in at 4.38. That time was tied for fifth overall in the cornerback group.
Durant hails from an HBCU that produced New York Giants legend Harry Carson (Hall of Fame Class of 2006). The feisty cornerback is aiming to become the first South Carolina State player taken in the NFL Draft since the Colts selected All-Pro linebacker Darius Leonard in the 2018 second round.
FCS players also contributed to the eye-popping wide receiver performances in the 40-yard dash.
North Dakota State's Christian Watson was one of eight wide receiver participants to clock in under the 4.40 mark. Watson recorded a 4.36, which was the sixth-fastest time in the position group.
Northern Iowa's Isaiah Weston dashed 40 yards in 4.42, ranking 11th out of 32 receivers who registered a time at the Combine.
Watson could become the highest FCS receiver chosen in the NFL Draft since Super Bowl LVI MVP Cooper Kupp (Eastern Washington) went to the Rams at No. 69 overall (third round) in 2017.
Serritella's Monday Mock Draft (March 7) predicted Watson to be the second FCS player off the board, going to the Falcons at No. 43 overall (second round).
2022 NFL Combine: Notable FCS 40-Yard Dash Performances
LINEBACKER
Troy Andersen, Montana State
Time: 4.42
LB Rank: 1st
RUNNING BACK
Pierre Strong, South Dakota State
Time: 4.37
RB Rank: 1st (tied)
QUARTERBACK
EJ Perry, Brown
Time: 4.65
QB Rank: 2nd
OFFENSIVE LINE
Trevor Penning, Northern Iowa
Time: 4.89
OL Rank: 2nd (tied)
CORNERBACK
Zyon McCollum, Sam Houston State
Time: 4.33
CB Rank: 3rd
Decobie Durant, South Carolina State
Time: 4.38
CB Rank: 5th (tied)
WIDE RECEIVER
Christian Watson, North Dakota State
Time: 4.36
WR Rank: 6th
Isaiah Weston, Northern Iowa
Time: 4.42
WR Rank: 11th
