Patrick Mahomes 40-Yard Dash: Chiefs Star’s Speed Compared to QBs

Patrick Mahomes

Getty Images Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes

The Kansas City Chiefs traded up to select quarterback Patrick Mahomes early in the first round in the 2017 NFL Draft. And while Mahomes is known for having a rocket arm, he also has decent speed as well. Even if his official 40-yard dash time doesn’t point to that entirely being the case for the young signal-caller.

Coming out of Texas Tech, it was Mahomes’ 93 touchdown passes in 32 games along with the 11,252 passing yards that grabbed the attention of most. But it’s worth pointing out that over his final two seasons with the Red Raiders, the quarterback racked up 22 rushing touchdowns and 741 yards on the ground.

Although Mahomes hasn’t used his legs quite as much at the NFL level, he still rushed for 272 yards and two scores over the span of the 2018 season. While the Chiefs quarterback has proven that he can take off and run, his 40-yard dash time is probably slower than most expect.


Patrick Mahomes’ Speed & 40-Yard Dash Time

Mahomes was one of 12 quarterbacks to run the 40-yard dash during the 2017 NFL Scouting Combine. Of those 11 other signal-callers, five were faster than him while one (Jerod Evans, Virginia Tech) posted the same time. The current MVP candidate clocked a time of 4.80 seconds which isn’t bad, but it also has fallen in the middle of the pack when compared to the bulk of recent drafts.

As DraftScout.com also revealed, Mahomes posted a best 40 time of 4.72 seconds with his worst coming in at 4.88. The Chiefs quarterback seems to be one of those players who’s faster during in-game situations as opposed to being clocked for his speed. Proof of that comes from the impressive acceleration he showed in the above run against the Cincinnati Bengals.


How Patrick Mahomes’ Speed Ranks vs. NFL QBs

When evaluating specifically against the 2017 NFL Draft class, Mahomes’ time was behind Davis Webb (4.79), Mitchell Trubisky (4.67), Deshaun Watson (4.66), Joshua Dobbs (4.64), and Trevor Knight (4.54). He wasn’t all that close to the top four, but Trubisky, Watson and Dobbs have shown off an impressive amount of in-game speed.

Even when looking at the 2018 NFL Scouting Combine, there were a total of five quarterbacks who ran better than a 4.80-second 40-yard dash. The list included Logan Woodside (4.79), Danny Etling (4.76), Josh Allen (4.75), J.T. Barrett (4.70), and Quinton Flowers (4.63).

For what it’s worth, the 4.80-second time is far better than a few other big-name NFL quarterbacks. As Seat Geek detailed, Philip Rivers ran the 40 in 5.08 seconds, while Tom Brady’s time was an unsurprising 5.28 seconds.

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