Two D-linemen make history with sub-4.8 40s
INDIANAPOLIS -- One night after some of the biggest offensive lineman wowed scouts with their speed, it was the defensive linemen's turn Saturday at the NFL scouting combine, as Nebraska's Khalil Davis and Oklahoma's Neville Gallimore carved out a little history.
Davis, at 6-foot-1, 308 pounds, ran an official clocking of 4.75 seconds in the 40-yard dash Saturday night, and Gallimore, at 6-2, 304 pounds, clocked an official time of 4.79 seconds.
According to research by ESPN's Stats & Information, those times made the pair the only defensive linemen who weighed more than 300 pounds to clock sub-4.8 40s since 2006. Davis' twin brother, Carlos (6-2, 313 pounds), had an official 40 time of 4.82.
Those efforts came 24 hours after Louisville's Mekhi Becton and Iowa's Tristan Wirfs were among the offensive linemen to show big-man speed at the combine.
Seven of the interior defensive linemen overall ran sub-5.0 40s Saturday night, with four of those players tipping the scales over 300 pounds.
Gallimore, a native of Canada, said earlier this week at the combine that he had played soccer and basketball growing up in addition to football and that it helped his footwork and quickness.
"I'm speaking for the kids who have a dream and grow up watching football, grow up having that passion, and have that talent and the work ethic,'' Gallimore said. "That if you have the desire to play you won't have to go out of your way to get found, they'll come find you. You still have to do your work as well, but show again that no matter where you come from and what your background is, you still can get that opportunity.''
NC State defensive end James Smith-Williams, who ran the fastest 40-yard dash among the defensive lineman who ran Saturday night (4.60), suffered a cut on his elbow during the vertical jump drill. Some scouts in attendance said Smith-Williams' elbow hit the frame on the apparatus used to measure the jumps as he was coming down.
It wasn't immediately known if Smith-Williams would need stitches to close the cut, but he did not participate in the position drills following the injury.
