NFL Combine 2012: Power Ranking the Best Combine Performances Ever

It's NFL Scouting Combine week, and college prospects are doing their best to impress NFL scouts. They all have hopes of solidifying or improving their draft stock.

In the history of the combine, few players have impressed like the five players listed here. These players made scouts say, "Yeah, I knew he was great" or "Who is this kid? We've got to have him."

The results vary with regard to their actual on-field results, but their performances at the combine were legendary. Here are my top five combine performances of all time.

5. Calvin Johnson Running on Borrowed Shoes?

In 2007, Georgia Tech standout WR Calvin Johnson was already considered the top WR in the draft. He was advised not to run, as he could only hurt his stock if he ran slower than expected.

Megatron is too competitive for that. 

Not expecting to run, he didn't pack any shoes. He borrowed some from East Carolina QB prospect James Pinkney, and the 6'5", 240-pound freak of nature ran a 4.35-second 40-yard dash.

It was the third-fastest time ever recorded at the combine by a receiver, and he did it in someone else's shoes; imagine if he had on his own.

As you are probably aware, Megatron is perhaps the game's best receiver. I guess it wasn't the shoes.

4. Bruce Campbell Was Born To Be a Raider

Campbell is a 6'6", 310-pound monster and a silly physical specimen. That automatically puts him at the top of the Raiders' big board. On top of that, a man with the same name as the Army of Darkness star is destined for the Black Hole. 

In 2010, Maryland's Campbell had the most impressive scouting combine performance of any offensive lineman in history. He ran a 4.8 40-yard dash, which is among the fastest of any O-lineman in history.

He also displayed Hercules-like strength: He bench-pressed 225 pounds 34 times.

There is no way the Raiders could allow such a physical specimen to pass them by. Oakland took him in the fourth round of the draft.

Campbell hasn't quite made his mark as of yet. He is currently listed as Stefen Wisniewski's backup at LG.

3. Chris Johnson Is Really Fast

Before he was CJ2K, Johnson was believed to be a second- or third-round pick out of East Carolina. That changed when he posted the second-fastest time in scouting combine history.

Johnson's 4.24-second 40-yard dash opened eyes, and the 10'10" broad jump didn't hurt either. The Titans wisely selected him 24th overall, and the rest is history still in the making.

Johnson took off at the combine, and he still hasn't stopped running. He would go on to rush for 2,006 yards in 2009 and 5,645 in his four-year career thus far.

2. Matt Jones Can Do It All, or Can He?

Coming out of Arkansas as a QB in 2005, scouts knew Jones was a good athlete, but I don't think anyone expected him to do what he did at the combine.

At 6'6" and 237 pounds, Jones ran the 40-yard dash in 4.37 seconds and showed a 39.5" vertical leap.

That, along with questions about one's ability to play under center in the NFL, will turn a QB into a WR every time.

That is exactly what happened to Jones. The Jacksonville Jaguars took him in the first round as a receiver.

His career has been much less than stellar, though. He is currently out of the NFL due to substance abuse issues. He last played in 2008 for the Jaguars.

1. Mike Mamula Is Captain America

After Mamula's 1995 combine results, NFL scouts must have thought the defensive end out of Boston College was a part of the Super Soldier experiment.

He ran a 4.58 40-yard dash, bench-pressed 225 pounds 28 times and had a 38.5" vertical. As if that wasn't impressive enough, Mamula answered 49 of 50 questions correct on the Wonderlic test.

Not only were NFL scouts drooling, parents were showing up with their daughters, trying to set them up on a date with the perfect guy.

Mamula was drafted seventh overall by the Philadelphia Eagles. He had a short but decent five-year career, in which he compiled 31.5 sacks.

Obviously, it was considered a bit of a falloff after those combine numbers—though I'm not sure anything could have lived up to that impressive performance.