The Eagles had a few goals this offseason and the one right at the top of the list was to get faster, especially on offense.
They did that.
We’ll eventually see if that pays off on the football field, but they added a bunch of 4.3-4.4 type of receivers to their offense this offseason. It’s probably no coincidence the Eagles made these moves after we all watched the Chiefs win a Super Bowl with blazing-fast weapons.
On Thursday, former NFL receiver Chad Johnson offered up this question to Twitter:
While most of the responses were a bunch of people saying it’s a no-brainer that the Chiefs would win, this would be a fun 4x100 race to watch, especially the anchor leg.
Tyreek Hill and Marquise Goodwin responded to Johnson’s tweet and said they’d rather race him. This is where I should point out that Johnson is 42 years old.
But at least Mecole Hardman gave his real take:
So here’s what I came up with if this race were to actually happen:
Eagles: DeSean Jackson, Jalen Reagor, Quez Watkins, Marquise Goodwin
NFL
Chiefs: Mecole Hardman, Sammy Watkins, Byron Pringle, Tyreek Hill
I want to make a note here that I only used receivers for this race because that’s what Johnson stipulated. Please don’t email me.
Anyway, let’s take a closer look at the 4x100m teams:
Eagles
• DeSean Jackson is one of the best deep threats in NFL history. Back at the 2008 combine, he ran a 4.35 and he still trains as a track athlete. Sure, he’s 33 now but he reached 21.4 mph as a ball carrier before he got hurt last year.
• Jalen Reagor ran a disappointing 4.47 at the combine but he followed that up with hand-timed 40s of 4.22 and 4.28 at his individual pro day. In high school, he was a state long jump champion and ran a personal best in the 100m of 10.92.
• Quez Watkins, a sixth-round pick, gets the edge over John Hightower, the fifth-round pick who ran a slower 40 time. The lack of track experience might hurt Watkins, but he ran a 4.35 at the combine, the second-fastest time in 2020.
• Marquise Goodwin, acquired in a draft-day trade, is literally an Olympic athlete. Goodwin ran a 4.27 in the 40 back in 2013. He has a personal best of 10.24 in the 100-meter. He is now 29, though, and had a knee injury last year. But back in 2018, when asked if he was faster than Hill, Goodwin said he doesn’t compare himself to anybody, but then pulled up his sleeve and showed off his Olympic Rings tattoo.
Chiefs
• Mecole Hardman ran a 4.33 in the 40 at last year’s combine and ran a 10.64 in the 100-meter in high school. And last season he reached 21.87 and 21.74 mph on two separate touchdowns plays.
• Sammy Watkins ran a 4.43 at the 2014 combine and was a high school track star. Watkins ran a 10.72 into a headwind in the 100m to finish second in the state of Florida and he won the 200 with a time of 21.11.
• Byron Pringle is coming off his rookie season with the Chiefs as an undrafted player from Kansas State. He averaged 14.2 yards per catch last year after running a 4.46 at the 40. He did compete in track in high school in Florida. I’ll give Pringle the nod over DeMarcus Robinson, who is faster than his timed speed but ran a 4.59 at the 2016 combine.
• Tyreek Hill’s Twitter handle is @Cheetah, which pretty much tells you all you need to know about him. Hill ran a 4.29 at his college pro day in 2016, but has been timed running even faster. Hill’s PR in the 100m is 10.19 and he once ran a 9.98 wind-aided time. Since NFL NextGen stats became available four seasons ago, Hill has the fastest recorded speed of any ball carrier, reaching 23.24mph in 2016.
•••
So there you have it, two pretty fast 4x100 teams. Who ya got?
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