Fastest Safety 40 Times at NFL Combine All-Time
I’ve always loved the NFL Combine. A series of events to evaluate the physical characteristics of the best college football players each year. While it’s debatable whether this whole event is actually valuable (why we’re still doing 225 rep tests, especially with skill players, I’ll never know), my fascination with it has never waned.
When I trained players for the combine, one of the things we would always do is look at previous years’ results to see how we stacked up. It was a great tool for goal-setting and motivation.
I basically did the same thing for this guide. I went through all the previous NFL Combines to find the top Safety 40 times of all time.
Note: These are the official NFL Combine times from NFL.com. Some resources online will also include pro day times, but because there are so many other variables (surface, weather, etc) I’ve stuck strictly to the official times from Indianapolis.
Best Safety NFL Combine 40 Times All-Time
| Fastest Safety Times in NFL Combine History | |||
| Player | School | Time | Year |
| Zedrick Woods | Ole Miss | 4.29 | 2019 |
| Nick Cross | Maryland | 4.34 | 2022 |
| Troy Apke | Penn State | 4.34 | 2018 |
| Josh Barrett | Arizona State | 4.34 | 2008 |
| Darnell Savage | Maryland | 4.36 | 2019 |
| Percy Butler | Louisiana | 4.36 | 2022 |
| JT Woods | Baylor | 4.36 | 2022 |
| Tycen Anderson | Toledo | 4.36 | 2022 |
| LaRon Landry | LSU | 4.37 | 2007 |
| L’Jarius Sneed | Louisiana Tech | 4.37 | 2020 |
| Lewis Cine | Georgia | 4.37 | 2022 |
Year By Year Top Safety 40 Times
Here is a breakdown of the top 5 40 times from each year going back to 2012. In addition to the top 5 each year, I’ve also included any Safety that has run a 4.40 or faster.
Related –> NFL Combine Averages By Position at 2023 NFL Combine
2023
| Fastest NFL Combine Safety Times 2023 | |||
| Player | School | Time | Year |
| Nick Cross | Maryland | 4.43 | 2022 |
| Percy Butler | Louisiana | 4.45 | 2022 |
| JT Woods | Baylor | 4.46 | 2022 |
| Tycen Anderson | Toledo | 4.47 | 2022 |
| Lewis Cine | Georgia | 4.49 | 2022 |
Related –> NFL Combine Averages By Position at 2022 NFL Combine
2022
| Fastest NFL Combine Safety Times 2022 | |||
| Player | School | Time | Year |
| Nick Cross | Maryland | 4.34 | 2022 |
| Percy Butler | Louisiana | 4.36 | 2022 |
| JT Woods | Baylor | 4.36 | 2022 |
| Tycen Anderson | Toledo | 4.36 | 2022 |
| Lewis Cine | Georgia | 4.37 | 2022 |
| Daxton Hill | Michigan | 4.38 | 2022 |
2020
| Fastest NFL Combine Safety Times 2020 | |||
| Player | School | Time | Year |
| L’Jarius Sneed | Louisiana Tech | 4.37 | 2020 |
| Tanner Muse | Clemson | 4.41 | 2020 |
| Jeremy Chinn | Southern Illinois | 4.45 | 2020 |
| Antoine Winfield Jr. | Minnesota | 4.45 | 2020 |
| Terrell Burgess | Utah | 4.46 | 2020 |
2019
| Fastest NFL Combine Safety Times 2019 | |||
| Player | School | Time | Year |
| Zedrick Woods | Ole Miss | 4.29 | 2019 |
| Darnell Savage | Maryland | 4.36 | 2019 |
| Will Harris | Boston College | 4.41 | 2019 |
| Juan Thornhill | Virginia | 4.42 | 2019 |
| Sheldrick Redwine | Miami | 4.44 | 2019 |
2018
| Fastest NFL Combine Safety Times 2018 | |||
| Player | School | Time | Year |
| Troy Apke | Penn State | 4.34 | 2018 |
| Natrell Jamerson | Wisconsin | 4.40 | 2018 |
| Justin Reid | Stanford | 4.40 | 2018 |
| Dane Cruikshank | Arizona | 4.41 | 2018 |
| Godwin Igwebuike | Northwestern | 4.44 | 2018 |
2017
| Fastest NFL Combine Safety Times 2017 | |||
| Player | School | Time | Year |
| Obi Melifonwu | Connecticut | 4.40 | 2017 |
| Josh Jones | N.C. State | 4.41 | 2017 |
| Montae Nicholson | Michigan State | 4.42 | 2017 |
| Budda Baker | Washington | 4.45 | 2017 |
| Rayshawn Jenkins | Miami | 4.51 | 2017 |
2016
| Fastest NFL Combine Safety Times 2016 | |||
| Player | School | Time | Year |
| K.J. Dillon | West Virginia | 4.53 | 2016 |
| Elijah Shumate | Notre Dame | 4.58 | 2016 |
| Jayron Kearse | Clemson | 4.62 | 2016 |
| Deon Bush | Miami | 4.64 | 2016 |
| Darian Thompson | Boise State | 4.69 | 2016 |
2015
*NFL.com doesn’t list results for safeties for 2015. I’m working on tracking down these numbers. Will update here when I get them.
| Fastest NFL Combine Safety Times 2015 | |||
| Player | School | Time | Year |
| 2015 | |||
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2014
*NFL.com doesn’t list results for safeties for 2014. I’m working on tracking down these numbers. Will update here when I get them.
| Fastest NFL Combine Safety Times 2014 | |||
| Player | School | Time | Year |
| 2014 | |||
| 2014 | |||
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2013
*NFL.com doesn’t list results for safeties for 2013. I’m working on tracking down these numbers. Will update here when I get them.
| Fastest NFL Combine Safety Times 2013 | |||
| Player | School | Time | Year |
| 2013 | |||
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2012
| Fastest NFL Combine Safety Times 2012 | |||
| Player | School | Time | Year |
| Christian Thompson | South Carolina State | 4.50 | 2012 |
| Sean Richardson | Vanderbilt | 4.52 | 2012 |
| Trent Robinson | Michigan State | 4.52 | 2012 |
| Kelcie McCray | Arkansas State | 4.54 | 2012 |
| Corey White | Samford | 4.55 | 2012 |
FAQ
Does Running a Fast 40 at the Combine Guarantee Success for a Safety?
Running a fast 40 at the NFL Combine can lead to much hype and recognition, but does it directly translate to NFL success?
Of course, it doesn’t guarantee success – success in the NFL can depend on an array of different factors, many of which have nothing to do with physical ability.
However, just for fun, I looked at the careers of the 11 fastest safety 40 times to see if it was a solid indicator of players having success at the next level. This is something I’ve done with every position group (here are the cornerback times), but safeties presented a unique challenge.
All but 2 of the times have been run within the last 4 or 5 years including 5 that were run at the 2022 combine. This means most of these guys haven’t had time to produce a “career” yet. (8 of the 11 are still active.)
There were a few things I found interesting.
Number one was the fact that Zedrick Woods, the fastest safety of all time at the combine was not drafted and had no career in the NFL. Why a safety talented enough to be invited to the combine and then ran a 4.29 wasn’t drafted I have no clue. But, it seems a chronic turf toe injury is what led him to retire before he got a chance to even begin his career.
3 of the top 11 guys were drafted in the 1st round (Savage 21st overall, Landry 6th, Cine 32nd) and Landry currently has the only pro bowl selection out of the group.
Final Thoughts
Keep in mind that not everyone that gets invited to NFL Combine actually runs a 40 at the Combine. So, some players that potentially could have run extremely fast times don’t have an official time on the record.
On top of that, there are many players each year that would have put up fast times and had success at the NFL level that doesn’t receive an NFL Combine invite.
