Rival Views: Barkley vs. Jackson in the 40. Who you got?
Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell and National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney don’t always see eye to eye. In this edition of Rival Views, the two debate who will post a better 40-yard dash time at the NFL Combine, Saquon Barkley or Lamar Jackson.
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FARRELL'S VIEW: SAQUON BARKLEY
I’ll go with Saquon Barkley here because I just can’t see a way that Lamar Jackson is more explosive out of his stance than Barkley.
Barkley has the clear lower body strength advantage and, I would assume, he’s more used to running the 40-yard dash. All of these factors make me believe a running back will outrun a quarterback in an event based on explosion.
GORNEY'S VIEWS: LAMAR JACKSON
This is a tough one because both players are so fast, but I'm going with a tried-and-true method here and it's called sticking with Las Vegas. The prop bets for Lamar Jackson have him running over/under 4.35 seconds and Barkley at 4.37 seconds, so by my estimation, the bookmakers think Jackson will run slightly faster. That's really the only rationale to go with Jackson, other than all eyes will be on his every move over the weekend and he will want to perform.
So many NFL executives and others question whether the Louisville star and Heisman Trophy winner could even play quarterback in the NFL. He's too short, he's too slight, his deep ball isn't accurate enough, blah, blah, blah. He's going to show up in Indianapolis fired up and ready to prove how talented he is in every aspect of the game to all the coaches and front-office people watching. Barkley already has it made pretty much. He's going to be the top running back taken and he could be an immediate superstar. But he's also highly competitive so, he's going to run well, but I'll take Jackson.
