Xavier Worthy’s 40-yard dash time made him the NFL Combine’s unquestioned speed king. Besides setting this record, he also recorded elite marks in several other explosive drills during his workout.
The question now is whether anyone at the 2026 NFL Combine will be able to surpass his historic performance.
Mississippi State Star Labeled Legit Threat to Xavier Worthy’s Combine Speed Record
Worthy owns the official NFL Combine record in the 40-yard dash, blazing a 4.21-second run to edge the previous 4.22 mark set by John Ross III in 2017. The former Texas wide receiver opened with a 4.25 on his first attempt before breaking the record on his second sprint at Lucas Oil Stadium, where he also hit a top speed of 24.41 mph.
With the 2026 NFL Combine scheduled for Feb. 23 through March 2 in Indianapolis, NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah joined Rich Eisen to weigh in on whether Worthy’s time could be challenged. Jeremiah brought up Mississippi State receiver Brenen Thompson as a legitimate threat, who is regarded as one of the fastest players in college football.
“Brenen Thompson is a little undersized wide receiver from Mississippi State who (is) going through the training and the testing part as he’s been getting ready for this thing,” Jeremiah said (1:50). “He has been throwing up some unbelievable times and everybody has him as the clear favorite here to at least give this thing a run.”
Mississippi State previously clocked Thompson at 23.7 mph ahead of the 2025 season. He is the Bulldogs’ first Combine participant since 2024, after the program went without a draft pick last year for the first time since 2009. Mississippi State also hasn’t had a wide receiver drafted since Eric Moulds in 1996.
Meanwhile, there is actually one similarity between Worthy and Thompson. Like Worthy, Thompson committed to Texas out of high school. He appeared in nine games for the Longhorns, recording one 32-yard reception against Oklahoma State. After a quiet year in Austin, he transferred to Oklahoma and spent two seasons in a reserve role before entering the portal again and landing at Mississippi State.
Thompson broke out with 57 catches for 1,054 yards and six touchdowns, adding four carries for 14 yards and another score in 2025. He became just the fourth player in program history to surpass 1,000 receiving yards in a season and finished No. 13 in the PFSN College Football WR Impact Metric with an 82.4 score.
One of Thompson’s signature moments came in September, when he hauled in a 58-yard game-winning touchdown against Arizona State, marking his first career 100-yard game and first multi-touchdown performance. His strong season earned him Second Team All-SEC honors from the Associated Press, Phil Steele, and PFSN, along with Third Team recognition from the SEC head coaches.
Thompson closed his college career with 40 games played and 23 starts, totaling 84 receptions for 1,557 yards and 10 touchdowns, plus four carries for 14 yards and a score. He is currently viewed as a late second-round prospect, but an eye-popping 40 time and strong overall testing numbers may push him firmly into the top-100 conversation.
