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After not running 40-yard dash at combine, Kerryon Johnson hits goal at Auburn pro day
By SDS Staff
Published:
By not running the 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine, Kerryon Johnson put plenty of pressure on his pro day.
As he often did during his junior season at Auburn, Johnson took that pressure in stride.
On Friday, the former Tiger tailback unofficially clocked in at 4.54 seconds, which was within the 4.5 seconds that he set out to hit.
“That’s what I’ve been working on for three months and just had to come out here and prove it today,” Johnson said via AL.com. “That’s just the speed I feel like I play at and so that was kind of my own personal goal. Other people run what other people run.”
Johnson actually said that he actually didn’t know what his time was.
Fortunately for him, the 4.54 was comparable for plenty of the top-rated tailbacks in the draft class. That would’ve tied him for ninth among running backs at the combine, along with Georgia’s Sony Michel, Iowa’s Akrum Wadley and Oregon’s Royce Freeman.
It remains to be seen what happens with Johnson’s draft stock with the 40-yard dash out of the way. The SEC Offensive Player of the Year could be a Day-2 selection despite the fact that injuries hurt the back end of his breakout campaign.
Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said that he thinks Johnson can be “one of the best backs in the league.”
If 2017 was any indication, a healthy Johnson is plenty capable of becoming just that at the next level.
Saturday Down South reports and comments on the news around the Southeastern Conference as well as larger college football topics.
