‘I’m very disappointed.’ Lynn Bowden must wait for UK’s Pro Day to run 40-yard dash.
Fans hoping to tune in to watch Lynn Bowden run the 40-yard dash Thursday at the NFL Scouting Combine should seek other plans for that evening.
Bowden won’t participate in any running drills this week, he told reporters Tuesday. He’s dealing with a right hamstring strain.
“I’m very disappointed,” Bowden said. “I literally did this like two or three days ago before I got here. I was talking to my agent and told him I’d still do it, but I don’t really want to go put nothing bad down on paper and it hurt me.”
Kentucky’s Pro Day on campus is scheduled for March 27. “The plan is to go full effect” at that, Bowden said.
Gil Brandt, an analyst for NFL.com who worked for the Dallas Cowboys from 1960-1989, suggests that the “minimum target” in that drill for a wide receiver is a 4.50. Bowden acknowledged that it’s “very important” to run a good time in the 40-yard dash, but that kind of speed is different from game speed.
“I feel like it’s just a platform for teams to get to know you,” Bowden said. “It really ain’t got nothing to do with football, for real.”
No wide receiver drafted in 2019 ran slower than a 4.60. Eight receivers who ran slower than a 4.5 were drafted overall last year, including N’Keal Harry, a first-round selection by the New England Patriots (the 6-foot-4 product of Arizona State ran a 4.53).
2020 NFL Draft
When: April 23-25
Where: Las Vegas
This story was originally published February 25, 2020 at 1:14 PM.
