Nothing projects a football player's ability to perform at the highest professional level quite like a cone-to-cone sprint in his underwear.
Enter the 2019 NFL Combine in Indianapolis, where the country's best college football players converge for their first encounters with NFL franchises ahead of the 2019 NFL Draft.
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Whether and how much the Combine's events matter is up for constant debate, but we doubt Byron Jones would have been drafted in the first round in 2015 without his Combine world-record broad jump. Physical attributes, though just one piece of the puzzle that is a player's pre-draft evaluation, can't hurt.
Below are the best numbers for the core events — 40-yard dash, bench press, vertical jump, broad jump, three-cone drill, 20-yard shuttle and 60-yard shuttle — since 2006, or what the league calls "recent" history.
The NFL does not keep Combine records, so these marks are unofficial.
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NFL Combine records
40-yard dash
*Electronic timing began in 1999*
Record holder: John Ross, WR, 2017
Time: 4.22 seconds
Yeah, but: Running back Bo Jackson reportedly ran a 4.12 at the Combine in 1986. Defensive back Deion Sanders was clocked at 4.2 in 1989.
Top five since 2006:
| Rank | Player | Time | Pos. | Year |
| 1. | John Ross | 4.22 | WR | 2017 |
| 2. | Chris Johnson | 4.24 | RB | 2008 |
| 3. | Dri Archer | 4.26 | RB | 2014 |
| 4. | Marquise Goodwin | 4.27 | WR | 2013 |
| T5. | Jacoby Ford | 4.28 | WR | 2010 |
| T5. | Jalen Myrick | 4.28 | CB | 2017 |
| T5. | J.J. Nelson | 4.28 | WR | 2015 |
| T5. | Demarcus Van Dyke | 4.28 | DB | 2011 |
Bench press
Record holder: Stephen Paea, DT, 2011
Repetitions (225 pounds): 49
Yeah, but: Paea's 49 reps were deemed a record in 2011 even though defensive tackle Justin Ernest pumped out 51 reps in 1999.
Top five since 2006:
| Rank | Player | Reps | Pos. | Year |
| 1. | Stephen Paea | 49 | DT | 2011 |
| 2. | Mitch Petrus | 45 | OL | 2010 |
| T3. | Jeff Owens | 44 | DT | 2010 |
| T3. | Dontari Poe | 44 | DT | 2012 |
| T5. | Russell Bodine | 42 | C | 2014 |
| T5. | Harrison Phillips | 42 | DT | 2018 |
| T5. | Tank Tyler | 42 | DL | 2007 |
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Vertical jump
Record holder: Chris Conley, WR, 2015 / Donald Washington, CB, 2009
Height: 45.0"
Yeah, but: Safety Gerald Sensabaugh set a Combine record with his 46-inch vertical in 2005, a year before the NFL's recency cut-off.
Top five since 2006:
| Rank | Player | Height | Pos. | Year |
| T1. | Chris Conley | 45.0 | WR | 2015 |
| T1. | Donald Washington | 45.0 | CB | 2009 |
| 3. | Byron Jones | 44.5 | CB | 2015 |
| 4. | A.J. Jefferson | 44.0 | CB | 2010 |
| 4. | Obi Melifonwu | 44.0 | S | 2017 |
Broad jump
Record holder: Byron Jones, DB, 2015
Length: 12'3"
Yeah, but: Jones did more than shatter the Combine record — he set a world record with his jump that dropped jaws at the 2015 event.
Top five since 2006:
| Rank | Player | Length | Pos. | Year |
| 1. | Byron Jones | 12'3" | CB | 2015 |
| 2. | Obi Melifonwu | 11'9" | S | 2017 |
| T3. | Jamie Collins | 11'7" | OLB | 2013 |
| T3. | Chris Conley | 11'7" | WR | 2015 |
| 5. | Bud Dupree | 11'6" | OLB | 2015 |
Three-cone drill
Record holder: J.T. Thomas, CB, 2018
Time: 6.28 seconds
Yeah, but: Thomas went undrafted in 2018. He was signed by the Eagles as an undrafted free agent but was cut soon after.
Top five since 2006:
| Rank | Player | Time | Pos. | Year |
| 1. | Jordan Thomas | 6.28 | CB | 2018 |
| 2. | Jeffrey Maehl | 6.42 | WR | 2011 |
| 3. | Buster Skrine | 6.44 | DB | 2011 |
| 4. | Scott Long | 6.45 | WR | 2010 |
| 5. | Dane Sanzenbacher | 6.46 | WR | 2011 |
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20-yard shuttle
Record holder: Jason Allen, CB, 2006 / Brandin Cooks, WR, 2014
Time: 3.81 seconds
Yeah, but: Four players — Kevin Kasper, Deion Branch, Dunta Robinson and Champ Bailey — posted better 20-yard shuttle times before 2006. Kasper's time of 3.73 remains the best.
Top five since 2006:
| Rank | Player | Time | Pos. | Year |
| T1. | Brandin Cooks | 3.81 | WR | 2014 |
| T1. | Jason Allen | 3.81 | CB | 2006 |
| 3. | Bobby McCain | 3.82 | CB | 2015 |
| 4. | B.W. Webb | 3.84 | CB | 2013 |
| T5. | Justin Simmons | 3.85 | FS | 2016 |
| T5. | Desmond Trufant | 3.85 | CB | 2013 |
60-yard shuttle
Record holder: Shelton Gibson, WR, 2017
Time: 10.71 seconds
Yeah, but: ... Gibson is fast — no buts about it. He barely edged Brandin Cooks and Avonte Maddox (10.72) for this record.
Top five since 2006:
| Rank | Player | Time | Pos. | Year |
| 1. | Shelton Gibson | 10.71 | WR | 2017 |
| T2. | Brandin Cooks | 10.72 | WR | 2014 |
| T2. | Avonte Maddox | 10.72 | CB | 2018 |
| T4. | Jamell Fleming | 10.75 | CB | 2012 |
| T4. | Buster Skrine | 10.75 | DB | 2011 |