Cam Newton ran an unofficial 4.58 40-yard dash at the 2011 NFL Combine, followed by a 4.59, ranking him fourth among quarterbacks in this year’s class and one of the fastest quarterbacks ever. He looked smooth and controlled, and didn’t look like he was going all that fast until he was done.
He was followed by Virginia Tech Hokies QB Tyrod Taylor’s unofficial 4.52, which tied Jake Locker’s as the best of the Combine so far and approached fellow Hokie Marcus Vick’s second-best-ever QB Combine 40. And some hand-timing scouts are saying Taylor's time was more like a 4.46.
Just for reference, A.J. Green ran a 4.48, just a tick faster than Newton, and Green weighs 37 pounds fewer than Newton does. If you placed your best on Newton outrunning Taylor, who’s only six feet tall, you overestimated his speed — but not by much.
He’s so huge that it’s hard to process how fast he is. Noticed the same thing happened while watching him at Auburn. During that one winding highlight run against LSU, he made it look like everything was moving at half-speed, and then suddenly — why hello there, goal line.