📈 Running Backs Climbing Fast After the Combine

The biggest winners from Indy

AuthorAuthor

Doug Norrie & Joe Holka
March 09, 2026

Four RB Prospects

4 running backs who popped off at the NFL combine… in two minutes or less.

Jeremiyah Love (Notre Dame)

Love was already the consensus RB1, and then he ran 4.36 at 212 pounds

  • 1,372 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns in 2025, plus 27 catches and 3 receiving scores. That’s true three-down production

  • 4.36 40-yard dash with a 1.55 split at his size shows rare size-adjusted speed for a projected top-10 pick

  • Only Round 1 RB since 2014 with a better speed score? Saquon Barkley. Love posted a 117.3 speed score

Elite production, elite athleticism, and now elite draft capital buzz… he probably locked in the RB1 conversation.

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Seth McGowan (Kentucky)

Production models may not love McGowan, but the combine absolutely did…

  • Best vertical among RBs at 42.5" and top broad jump at 10'11", showing explosive lower half

  • 4.49 40 at 223 pounds with an 83rd-percentile speed score

  • 98th-percentile broad jump when adjusted for BMI. That’s historically tied to better-than-expected draft capital

In a weaker RB class, this kind of athletic profile can push a player up a full draft tier, and suddenly McGowan is squarely on the radar.

Demond Claiborne (Wake Forest)

He entered the weekend in the RB3 conversation, but ran like he wants more.

  • 4.37 40-yard dash with 23.7 mph top speed… the second-fastest RB top speed at the combine over the past three years

  • 10'2" broad jump and 1.59 split. Nice combination of speed and burst confirmed

  • Caught 51 passes over his final two seasons and looked natural in pass-catching drills

Claiborne may have a smaller frame, but twitch, juice, and receiving ability travel well, and translate to the NFL.

And if this is what RB3 looks like… guess who may have moved the needle the most...

Mike Washington Jr. (Arkansas)

Washington showed he was the fastest back in the class… at 223 pounds

  • 4.33 40 (fastest among RBs) and 1.51 10-yard split (both best in the group)

  • 39" vertical and 10'8" broad (second in both jumps)

  • 2nd-best speed score by a running back since 2014… elite size-adjusted explosiveness

With elite marks across 40, speed score, vertical, and broad jump, Washington brings a profile rarely seen. He didn’t just improve his stock… he may have redefined his draft range entirely.

So that’s the list… Four prospective rookies who could be toting the rock for your favorite team in 2026.… as promised, in 2 minutes or less.

See you next time,

-Joe