40-Yard Dash Calculator: Combine Percentile by Position

Where the numbers come from

High school. A 2019 study in the International Journal of Exercise Science reported raw results from 7,214 high school players tested at recruiting combines in 2015 and 2016, with the sprints and the pro agility timed by laser gates. The group averaged 5.3 seconds in the 40 (standard deviation 0.4), 1.9 seconds for the 10-yard split, 4.6 seconds in the pro agility and 63 to 64 cm (about 25 inches) in the vertical. The sample is mostly freshmen, sophomores and juniors, with only 60 seniors, and the published averages cover all positions together. Not every player has every test, so each test has its own sample size. A companion study by the same research group, of high school combines over the same dates, describes the 10 as a split time within the 40.

NFL Combine. A 2023 study in the Journal of Expertise published the average and standard deviation for every Combine drill by position, from Combine data for 2000 to 2018 collected from Pro Football Reference. Corners averaged 4.48 seconds in the 40, receivers 4.50 and offensive linemen 5.24. For its analysis, the study kept only players with a result in every drill it used for that position, and pulled extreme values in to 2.99 standard deviations; the player counts below are those analysed samples. The paper does not say whether its averages come from those samples or from everyone who ran each drill. It also notes that few players run the 3-cone and the shuttle at the Combine, so treat the NFL shuttle numbers as the least certain.

How the percentile is estimated

The studies publish an average and a standard deviation, not a full ranking of every player. So the calculator assumes results spread in a bell curve around the average and reports the share of the group your result beats. A time right at the average is the 50th percentile; one standard deviation faster is about the 84th. Treat the result as an estimate. It is least precise at the extremes, which is why anything past the 99th shows as 99th+.

The high school study rounds its averages and standard deviations to a tenth of a second. That rounding alone can move a high school percentile by several points either way, and by 10 or more for the 10-yard split, so read it as a rough band, not an exact rank. The NFL numbers are published to a hundredth of a second, so those estimates are tighter.

The comparisons only make sense for the same test run the same way. The short shuttle is the same drill as the 5-10-5 pro agility: five yards one way, ten back, five through the finish. The high school study reports it as pro agility, the NFL study as the 20-yard shuttle. A 10-yard split is ranked against high school players only, because no public NFL Combine split data with a standard deviation was found.

Hand times vs laser times

A stopwatch 40 usually reads faster than an electronic one. In one study of 59 college players timed both ways at once, hand timing averaged 0.31 seconds faster than the electronic clock. If your time came from a stopwatch, tick the hand-timed box and the calculator adds that 0.31 seconds before it compares you. It is an average from one study, so an adjusted hand time is still only an estimate. The adjustment applies to the 40 only. A hand-timed split or shuttle is not adjusted, so treat its percentile with extra caution.

Age matters too. A study of 2,327 high school players found older players were faster, quicker and more powerful, and the companion study found differences between grades in nearly every split time it measured. The high school reference group is mostly sophomores and juniors, so a freshman tends to rank lower against it than against other freshmen.

How to get faster

Train the start with 10-yard starts and top speed with flying 10s, and train the shuttle with the 5-10-5 drill.

Every position training guide lists 440's 40 targets for high school, college and pro, and the 440 app builds the sprint, jump and lifting work for your position into a daily plan.

The reference data

NFL Combine, 2000 to 2018 (average ± standard deviation)

Frank DJ, King MJ, Dennard CD, Macnamara BN. Discriminant Function Analysis Reveals Which Combination of Measures from the NFL Scouting Combine Predict NFL Performance. Journal of Expertise 2023;6(2):130-163, Table 4. The study's analysed samples were 117 to 462 players per position; it does not say whether these averages use that sample or every participant.

High school combines, 2015 to 2016, all positions (average ± standard deviation)

40-yard dash

5.3 ± 0.4 s

10-yard split

1.9 ± 0.2 s

Pro agility

4.6 ± 0.3 s

Vertical jump

25.0 ± 4.2 in

Gillen ZM, Shoemaker ME, McKay BD, Cramer JT. State Population Influences Athletic Performance Combine Test Scores in High School-Aged American Football Players. Int J Exerc Sci 2019;12(6):256-262, Table 1 (raw values). Pooled across the paper's three groups; about 7,077 players had a 40 recorded. The vertical is converted from cm.

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