Who is the fastest player in the NFL?
It depends on the measurement. By the 40-yard dash, the fastest NFL player is Xavier Worthy, whose 4.21 at the 2024 Combine is the record. By speed with the ball in a game, the fastest run the NFL's Next Gen Stats tracking has recorded since 2016 is Tyreek Hill's 23.24 mph on a 2016 kick return.
The season leader changes every year. Jonathan Taylor's 22.38 mph topped 2025, and Khalil Shakir's 21.89 mph leads 2026 as of mid-October. Each ranking below says which measurement it uses and where the number comes from.
Fastest NFL player by 40-yard dash
Measurement: official NFL Combine 40-yard dash, hand-started and stopped by a laser at the finish since 1999.
Xavier Worthy ran 4.21 at the 2024 Combine, breaking John Ross's 4.22 from 2017. Kalon Barnes ran 4.23 in 2022, and Chris Johnson (2008) and Rondel Menendez (1999) share 4.24. At the 2026 Combine, Mississippi State receiver Brenen Thompson was fastest at 4.26. The full list of every Combine 40 of 4.27 or faster is on the fastest 40-yard dash page, and Xavier Worthy's 40 time covers his splits and game speeds.
Only Combine times belong on this list. Tyreek Hill's 4.29 came at a 2016 Pro Day after he wasn't invited to the Combine (Tyreek Hill's 40 time), and Bo Jackson's 4.12 was never run at the Combine at all (what Bo Jackson ran).
A 40 time doesn't give you top speed. Worthy's 4.21 averages 19.4 mph because it includes the start from a standstill; convert any 40 to mph to see average and estimated top speed side by side.
Fastest NFL players by game speed
Measurement: Next Gen Stats ball-carrier speed, the highest speed a player reaches while carrying the ball on a play, from tracking sensors in the uniform. Tracked since 2016.
| # | Player | mph | Season | Play |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tyreek Hill | 23.24 | 2016, Wk 2 | Kick return at Houston (called back) |
| 2 | Raheem Mostert | 23.09 | 2020, Wk 2 | 80-yard TD run vs. Jets |
| 3 | Tyreek Hill | 22.77 | 2016, Wk 12 | 86-yard return TD at Denver |
| 4 | Raheem Mostert | 22.73 | 2020, Wk 1 | 76-yard TD vs. Cardinals |
| 5 | DeSean Jackson | 22.60 | 2016, Wk 13 | 59-yard catch vs. Cardinals |
| 6 | Stefon Diggs | 22.50 | 2016, Wk 2 | Catch vs. Packers |
| 7 | Brandin Cooks | 22.40 | 2016, Wk 15 | 65-yard TD catch vs. Cardinals |
| 8 | Xavier Rhodes | 22.40 | 2016, Wk 11 | 100-yard interception return TD vs. Cardinals |
| 9 | KaVontae Turpin | 22.36 | 2024, Wk 11 | 64-yard TD catch vs. Texans |
| 10 | Mike Wallace | 22.34 | 2016, Wk 6 | 70-yard catch vs. Giants |
The list predates the 2025 season. Jonathan Taylor's 22.38 mph from 2025 would rank ninth, between the two 22.40s and Turpin. The 2026 leader so far, at 21.89 mph, would not make the list.
Hill holds two of the top three, and Raheem Mostert is the only other player above 22.75 mph. Seven of the ten speeds come from 2016, the season Next Gen Stats was adopted.
Defenders can go faster without the ball. In 2025 Vikings cornerback Isaiah Rodgers hit 23.32 mph chasing DK Metcalf on an 80-yard touchdown, the only player to top 23 mph that season. That is a different measurement, so it doesn't displace Hill's 23.24 as the fastest ball carrier.
Fastest ball carrier each season
Measurement: the season's top Next Gen Stats ball-carrier speed. 2023 includes the playoffs.
| Season | Player | mph | Play |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (as of Week 5) | Khalil Shakir, BUF | 21.89 | 57-yard overtime catch vs. Rams, 12 Oct |
| 2025 | Jonathan Taylor, IND | 22.38 | 43-yard catch, Week 2 |
| 2024 | KaVontae Turpin, DAL | 22.36 | 64-yard TD catch vs. Texans, Week 11 |
| 2023 | DK Metcalf, SEA | 22.23 | Week 13 vs. Cowboys |
2026 is as of the Bills' Monday night win over the Rams on 12 October (Week 5), and the season is still going. Shakir's 21.89 came on a 57-yard play with 52 yards after the catch.
In 2025 Jahmyr Gibbs reached 22.23 mph on a 78-yard touchdown run, which Next Gen Stats ranked third among 2025 ball carriers at the time while noting that Gibbs had the two fastest speeds on runs. Turpin's 22.36 in 2024 was the fastest by any ball carrier since 2020.
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Get Sprint UniversityNFL players with track times
Measurement: official track results. Times come from different eras and levels, so read them alongside the NFL marks, not against each other.
| Player | Track | NFL speed |
|---|---|---|
| Bob Hayes | Olympic 100m champion, 1964: 10.0 (10.06 automatic), tied the world record | Cowboys WR; Super Bowl VI; Hall of Fame 2009 |
| Tyreek Hill | 200m 20.14 (+1.8) and 100m 10.19 as a high school senior, 2012 | 4.29 Pro Day 40; 23.24 mph game speed |
| De'Von Achane | 100m 10.02 and 200m 20.20 for Texas A&M, 2022 | 4.32 40, 2023; 21.93 mph in 2023 |
| Marquise Goodwin | 2012 Olympic long jump finalist (10th); PB 8.45 m | 4.27 Combine 40, 2013 |
| Xavier Worthy | 100m 10.65 (wind-legal) as a high school sophomore, 2019 | 4.21 Combine 40, 2024 (record) |
Bob Hayes is the strongest case for the fastest man to play in the NFL. He won the 100m at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics in 10.0, a time his automatic 10.06 was rounded to under the hand-timing rules of the day, and anchored the US 4×100m relay to a 39.06 world record. He went on to win Super Bowl VI with Dallas and is the only athlete with both an Olympic gold medal and a Super Bowl ring.
Among recent players, De'Von Achane has the best listed track times (10.02 and 20.20 at Texas A&M in 2022), and Hill ran 20.14 for 200m as a high school senior. Worthy stopped running track after his sophomore year, when he ran a wind-legal 10.65.
Why the rankings disagree
Each list measures something different. A Combine 40 is a straight sprint in shorts from a three-point stance, timed from the runner's first movement, so acceleration counts for as much as top speed. Game speed is the single fastest moment on one play with pads on and a ball in hand, and it depends on the play: a long touchdown in open field produces a higher number than a run that ends in a tackle. Track times come with a gun, blocks and a wind reading.
The gap shows up in Worthy's own numbers. Next Gen Stats tracked him at 24.41 mph during his 4.21, the fastest speed of the 2024 Combine and faster than any ball-carrier speed recorded in a game since 2016.
- Comparing a Pro Day 40 with a Combine 40
- Pro Day timing is less standardized than the Combine's laser finish. Rank Combine times against Combine times.
- Counting hand-timed 40s from before 1999
- Older Combine 40s were hand-timed at both ends and read fast. The record list starts with electronic finish timing in 1999.
- Setting a 40's average mph against game speed
- A 4.21 averages 19.4 mph from a standstill. Game speeds are peaks, so compare peaks with peaks.
- Mixing speeds with and without the ball
- Rodgers' 23.32 mph in 2025 came while chasing a ball carrier. Hill's 23.24 is the ball-carrier record.
FAQ
More on football speed
- Xavier Worthy's 40 timeThe 4.21 Combine record, splits and game speed
- Tyreek HillPro Day 40, track PRs and game speed
- Bo Jackson's 40Where the 4.12 came from, and what was timed
- Fastest 40-yard dashEvery Combine 40 of 4.27 or faster
- 40-yard dash to mphAverage and top speed for every 40
- 40-yard dash to 100mConvert a 40 to a 100m and back
Players are listed for their public results only and are not affiliated with Sprint University.
Sources
- NFL.com: “Texas WR Xavier Worthy sets NFL Scouting Combine record with 4.21-second 40-yard dash” (2024)
- Sports Illustrated: “Fastest 40-Yard Dash Times Ever at the NFL Combine” (Feb 2025)
- ESPN: “Mississippi State's Thompson clocks 4.26 in 40 at NFL combine” (1 Mar 2026)
- Wikipedia: 40-yard dash (36.576 m; Combine hand-start/electronic-stop timing since 1999)
- DraftScout: Tyreek Hill 2016 profile (Pro Day 40: 4.29, range 4.28–4.29; 10 yd 1.50)
- Wikipedia: Tyreek Hill (not invited to the 2016 Combine; West Alabama Pro Day)
- ESPN: “Golden South shocker: Tyreek Hill steals the show with 20.14 200” (27 May 2012)
- Raiders.com: “Bo knows 40-yard dashes” (Jerry Knaak, 1 Mar 2021)
- FOX Sports: 2024 NFL Combine top performers tracker (Worthy 24.41 mph, Next Gen Stats; updated 4 Mar 2024)
- FOX Sports: “Who are the 10 fastest players in the NFL Next Gen Stats era?” (updated 1 Aug 2025)
- ESPN: “The fastest, longest, most improbable NFL plays of 2025” (Isaiah Rodgers 23.32 mph; 7 Jan 2026)
- ESPN: “NFL Week 10 Next Gen Stars” (Jonathan Taylor 22.38 mph in Week 2, fastest of 2025 to date; 11 Nov 2025)
- NBC Insider: “Who are the fastest players in the NFL?” (Taylor's 22.38 mph on a 43-yard reception in 2025; updated 8 Sep 2026)
- Sports Illustrated: “Cowboys' KaVontae Turpin becomes 2024's fastest ball carrier on TD vs. Texans” (19 Nov 2024)
- FOX Sports: “Fastest NFL players of the 2023 season” (Next Gen Stats, regular season and playoffs; updated 16 Aug 2024)
- The Sporting News via Yahoo Sports: “Watch Khalil Shakir clock fastest speed of 2026 NFL season” (13 Oct 2026)
- Bills Wire via Yahoo Sports: “Next Gen Stats: Bills' Khalil Shakir hits NFL's top speed of 2026” (16 Oct 2026)
- Wikipedia: Bob Hayes (1964 Olympic 100m and 4×100m relay; Super Bowl VI; Hall of Fame 2009)
- Wikipedia: De'Von Achane (100m 10.02 and 200m 20.20 in 2022; 4.32 40 in 2023)
- Wikipedia: Marquise Goodwin (2012 Olympic long jump final; 4.27 at the 2013 Combine)
- MileSplit: “Xavier Worthy Ran The Fastest 40y Dash In History ... But” (10.65 100m in 2019; 4 Mar 2024)