Football Combine Tests: What Each One Measures and the Numbers

The tests at a glance

NFL: Frank et al., Journal of Expertise 2023 (Combine 2000 to 2018), range of the position averages. High school: Gillen et al., Int J Exerc Sci 2019, all positions. No public NFL 10-yard split averages with standard deviations were found. Rank your own numbers in the free 40-yard dash calculator.

What each test measures

A 2023 study of the NFL Combine in the Journal of Expertise lists the skill each drill is meant to show. The 40-yard dash is speed and acceleration, timed to the hundredth of a second. The 20-yard shuttle, also called the pro agility or 5-10-5, is lateral movement and coordination: five yards one way, ten back, five through the finish. The three-cone drill adds a right angle and a turn around a cone, so it tests lateral speed and the ability to change direction.

The jumps measure power. The vertical jump is measured from the highest tab you touch standing to the highest tab you hit jumping, so your height doesn't count for or against you. The broad jump is a jump forward for distance, landing on both feet: horizontal explosiveness. The bench press test is as many reps of 225 pounds as you can do.

Splits break the 40 into pieces. The 10-yard split is the time to the 10-yard mark. NFL Combine 40s are timed at 10, 20 and 40 yards, and in a 2011 NFL.com column Gil Brandt called the 10 and 20-yard splits good indicators of a quick first step. High school combines in one large study recorded the 10, 20 and 40 as well.

Which tests matter for which positions

Not every test carries the same weight for every player. In that 2011 NFL.com column, Gil Brandt, drawing on his years with the Dallas Cowboys, explained how scouts read the drills by position. With receivers, he wrote, the 10-yard time got extra attention because it measures burst off the line, and between two receiver prospects it was often the better 10-yard time, not the 40, that stood out. Linemen weren't penalized for a slow 40 the way a cornerback was, because they rarely run 40 yards in a game.

For running backs, Brandt wrote that quickness is king and that a back's burst shows up in the shuttle. He called the bench press critical for offensive and defensive linemen, and fewer than 20 reps of 225 a red flag for a lineman. He tied the explosiveness the jumps show both to receivers and defensive backs going up for the ball and to linemen gaining leverage. And he wrote that the shuttles and the three-cone drill show how fluidly a player changes direction, and that in some cases good times there can outweigh a poor 40.

Brandt also kept the drills in their place. He wrote that it is rare for them to come into play before the overall scouting evaluation, and that his Cowboys staff used the numbers as something to consider when two prospects were rated evenly. That is one scout's view from 2011, not a league rule. Check your position guide for what your plan trains.

The NFL Combine and high school combines

The NFL numbers on these pages come from that 2023 study, which collected Combine results from 2000 to 2018 from Pro Football Reference and published the average and spread for every drill by position. For its analysis it kept only players with a result in every drill it used for each position, so its player counts leave out anyone who skipped one. The paper doesn't say whether the averages themselves come from that sample or from everyone who ran each drill, and it notes that few players run the 3-cone and the shuttle.

The high school numbers come from a 2019 study of more than 7,000 players tested at recruiting combines in 2015 and 2016. Those combines recorded the 10, 20 and 40-yard dash, the pro agility, an L-cone drill, the vertical and broad jumps and a power push-up on a force plate, with sprints and agility runs timed by laser gates. Most of the players were freshmen to juniors, and the published averages cover all positions together. See the high school football combine guide for what to expect on the day.

Comparing your numbers fairly

Only compare like with like. The biggest trap is timing. In one study of 59 college players timed both ways at once, stopwatch 40s averaged 0.31 seconds faster than electronic times. A hand-timed 4.6 and a laser 4.6 are not the same run. The hand-timed vs laser guide covers the details, and the 40-yard dash calculator can adjust a hand time before it ranks it.

The surface matters for change of direction. In a separate study from the same lab, 24 college players ran a hand-timed pro agility faster on field turf, 4.49 seconds, than on natural grass, 4.64, while their electronically timed 40s did not differ significantly between surfaces. Age matters in high school: a study of 2,327 players found older players were faster, quicker and more powerful. Studies differ on when the biggest change comes. That study saw it between the sophomore and junior years; a later study of high school combine players saw bigger percent differences in split times between the freshman and sophomore years.

What the numbers do and don't tell you

Tests are a snapshot of physical tools, not a verdict on how well you play. The 2023 study notes that research on which drills predict NFL success has produced inconsistent results. In its own analysis, single measures were often the best predictors for offensive positions, while for defensive positions combinations of traits did better.

The practical use is tracking yourself. Test the same way on the same surface, a few times a year, and see whether the numbers move. Then put the work where it is needed: starts with 10-yard starts, top speed with flying 10s and change of direction with the 5-10-5 drill. The 440 app builds that work into a daily plan for your position; every position guide shows 440's 40 targets for high school, college and pro.

Combine testing FAQ

All testing guides

• 40-Yard Dash
• Average 40 Time by Position
• What Is a Good 40 Time for High School Football?
• How to Run a Faster 40
• 10 Yard Split
• Pro Agility Shuttle
• Vertical Jump Test
• Average Vertical Jump by Position
• Broad Jump Test
• 3-Cone Drill
• High School Football Combine
• Hand Timed vs Laser 40