Ranking the NFL's Fastest Players with the Ball in Their Hands
Editor's Note: Click here to get an updated list of the fastest players in the NFL right now!
The modern-day NFL and its players can be characterized by one word above all else: fast.
Developments in strength and conditioning training have yielded incredible returns when it comes to the athleticism of today's NFL players.
In the 1987 NFL combine, the average 40-yard dash time among running backs was 4.64 seconds. Thirty years later, that number dropped to 4.56 for the 2017 draft class.
And that's just the running backs. Wide receivers have also become quicker, with players who would have once been relegated to slot roles and fewer targets now seeing a high volume of throws as teams try to overwhelm defenses with quick-strike offensive attacks.
Look no further back than the 2017 combine, when receiver John Ross broke the 40-yard dash record with a 4.22-second run.
In 2017, we've seen some of the fastest plays ever recorded in the NFL.
But who are the fastest players with the ball in their hands? Are they wideouts, running backs and return specialists? Or perhaps they're not skill players at all, but defenders.
We'll break down the fastest players in the NFL today, ranking them by their top speed reached this season. Note that players were only timed when they had the ball in their hands, be that on offense, defense or special teams.
But if a player has never carried the ball, he wasn't considered for this list.
All top speeds are courtesy of NFL Next Gen Stats and current through Week 12. Forty-yard dash times are via NFL.com unless otherwise indicated.
10. Tevin Coleman, RB, Atlanta
1 of 10
Top speed: 21.05 mph
"[Tevin] Coleman has big-time, top-end speed," NFL draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah wrote in 2015, as the Indiana running back was preparing for the NFL draft.
And the Atlanta Falcons, the team that drafted Coleman No. 73 overall that same year, have been the beneficiary of that big-time speed ever since.
Coleman has shared a backfield with Devonta Freeman for the duration of his career, but what he's lacked in snaps he's more than made up for in production. Coleman scored eight times on 118 attempts in 2016, and in 2017, he's seeing more opportunities.
With those opportunities has come the chance to show off his blistering speed. Coleman owns two of the 15 fastest plays in the NFL this season.
In Week 2, Coleman broke away for a 35-yard carry against the Green Bay Packers, reaching his top speed of 21.05 mph.
He was back at it in Week 4, this time clocking 20.99 mph on a 29-yard run.
The NFL's fastest players tend to be some of its smallest; in the 2017 combine, the top performers in the 40-yard dash (wide receiver John Ross, cornerback Jaylen Myrick) were both under 6'0".
At 6'1" and 210 pounds, Coleman has a combination of size and speed that makes him all the more special.
9. Jason McCourty, CB, Cleveland
2 of 10
Top speed: 21.07 mph
Not all of the NFL's fastest players are skill players.
Not all of them are young, either.
Now, Cleveland Browns cornerback Jason McCourty might take exception to that last statement, but the truth is of all the players on this list, McCourty has been in the league the longest.
Drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the sixth round of the 2009 draft, McCourty was heralded for his speed, which he showed off with a 4.3-second 40-yard dash at his pro day, per NFLDraftScout.com.
He's been showing it off ever since, including in Week 6 of the 2017 season, when he intercepted a pass by Houston Texans rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson and returned it 56 yards for a touchdown.
Now, there are plenty of fast cornerbacks in the NFL. The problem is, they don't often get to show off their straight-line speed until they've found themselves with a ball in their hands.
Still, not every cornerback is capable of reaching a top speed of 21.07 mph.
8. Julio Jones, WR, Atlanta
3 of 10
Top speed: 21.13 mph
A player doesn't have to be undersized to be fast.
At 6'3" and 220 pounds, Atlanta's Julio Jones has prototypical size for a No. 1 wideout.
But he can keep up with any of the league's shifty scatbacks or slot receivers.
Jones impressed scouts in 2011 when he ran a 4.39-second 40-yard dash at the NFL combine.
That speed has translated to his play in the NFL, where Jones has earned a reputation as a nightmare for defenders with his combination of elite speed and size.
If you're an opposing defense, your biggest defender probably isn't big enough to keep up with Jones, and your fastest one will struggle to bring him down.
In 2017, Jones reached a top speed of 21.13 mph when he took a Matt Ryan pass 53 yards against the New York Jets in Week 8. However, Jones was still struggling with lingering hip and back injuries through much of the 2017 season, finally beginning to find his stride in Week 11.
If Jones can run for more than 21 mph when he's limited, he could eventually own the top speed mark in the league when fully healthy.
7. Elijah McGuire, RB, New York Jets
4 of 10
Top speed: 21.17 mph
Elijah McGuire isn't a household name.
Yet.
The New York Jets selected the running back in the sixth round in 2017. McGuire wasn't supposed to factor heavily in a Jets backfield also containing Matt Forte and Bilal Powell.
But McGuire got an opportunity in Week 4 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, with a career-high 10 carries, and he capitalized on it.
McGuire broke away for a 69-yard touchdown run, the first score of his career.
With Forte missing time with an injury in Week 10, McGuire outsnapped Powell, which is no small vote of confidence in him by the Jets.
Now that he's shown he's capable of reaching 21.17 mph in the open field, New York will surely continue trying to give him opportunities to stretch his legs in 2017 and beyond.
6. Chris Thompson, WR, Houston
5 of 10
Top speed: 21.19 mph
Anyone who has followed the Washington Redskins in 2017 knows that running back Chris Thompson (now out for the season with a leg injury) had a breakout season—but it's Houston Texans wide receiver Chris Thompson who makes this list because of his blazing speed.
An undrafted free agent whom the Texans signed after the 2017 draft, Thompson was promoted from Houston's practice squad in late September.
Thompson reached 21.19 mph on a play in Week 5 against the Kansas City Chiefs when he caught a shovel pass from Deshaun Watson and took it 19 yards before running out of bounds.
Many of the players on this list reached top speed in the open field taking a ball into the end zone.
But for Thompson to reach speeds above 21 mph on a play that went fewer than 20 yards illustrates just how quick he is, and it begs the question of how fast he could run on a longer play.
Thompson's speed also makes him a dangerous weapon for Houston on special teams. Heading into Week 13, he was averaging 22.8 yards per kick return.
5. Taywan Taylor, WR, Tennessee
6 of 10
Top speed: 21.44 mph
Yet another rookie on this list continues to illustrate how much faster the players coming out of college are today.
The Tennessee Titans selected wide receiver Taywan Taylor in the third round of the 2017 draft, trading up to choose him even though the team took wideout Corey Davis No. 5 overall.
Taylor's speed allows him to be a yards-after-catch machine; he's averaging more than 15 yards per reception in 2017.
His biggest play of the year, and the one that got him on this list, came in Week 2 against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Marcus Mariota found Taylor deep for 42 yards.
Taylor's speed and elusiveness make him an ideal slot receiver, but when the Titans lost Davis to a hamstring injury in Week 2, Taylor stepped into a larger role on the offense. That versatility should continue to make him a dangerous option for Mariota in 2017 and beyond.
4. William Jackson, CB, Cincinnati
7 of 10
Top speed: 21.52 mph
William Jackson missed his entire rookie year with an injury in 2016, but he's more than made up for lost time in his sophomore season.
Jackson is quickly establishing himself as one of the Cincinnati Bengals' best defensive players after passing one of the toughest tests out there for an NFL cornerback: shutting down Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown.
That accomplishment came in Week 7. Ben Roethlisberger targeted Brown four times while Jackson was in primary coverage, and the second-year corner didn't give up a single reception.
The speedy defender also nabbed another highly sought achievement for a cornerback in Week 3 against the Green Bay Packers, coming away with a rare Aaron Rodgers interception.
What's more, Jackson returned the pass 75 yards for a score, reaching a top speed of 21.52 mph in the process.
When Jackson runs with the ball, he looks more like an offensive weapon than a defender; indeed, in his draft analysis, NFL.com's Mike Mayock remarked that Jackson "finds the football when it's in the air and then he becomes the wide receiver."
Jackson has already proved in 2017 that he's faster than many of the league's wideouts.
3. Tyreek Hill, WR, Kansas City
8 of 10
Top speed: 21.64 mph
In all reality, Tyreek Hill is likely the fastest player in the NFL.
So why isn't he ranked No. 1 on this list?
Hill's top speed of 21.64, recorded in Week 3, isn't the highest mark set this season.
But Hill also owned the top two recorded speed records in 2016, and no other player in the league has outpaced them: 23.24 mph in Week 2 of 2016 and 22.77 mph in Week 12. Both were on kickoff returns.
Kickoff returns are probably the best opportunity for players to show off their wheels, as Hill has shown, given how much field they have to work with.
But it's arguably more impressive when players can achieve those same speeds on offense or defense, with so many opponents to work around.
In his NFL.com draft profile of Hill, Lance Zierlein wrote that the wideout and special teams weapon has "ridiculous play speed." Two years into his NFL career, Hill has delivered on that promise and then some.
2. Marquise Goodwin, WR, San Francisco
9 of 10
Top speed: 21.68 mph
Given the fact that he is a former track and field Olympian, it's no surprise that San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Marquise Goodwin was able to reach a speed of 21.68 mph in 2017.
Goodwin accomplished that feat in Week 9 of the regular season when he connected with quarterback C.J. Beathard for a 55-yard completion against the Arizona Cardinals.
Drafted by the Buffalo Bills in 2013, Goodwin entered free agency at the expiration of his rookie contract in spring 2017 and signed with San Francisco. Though the 49ers haven't been anything to write home about in 2017, Goodwin has been a bright spot, setting a career high in receiving yards.
Then, of course, there's his speed.
Goodwin established himself as a flashy weapon at the 2013 NFL combine when he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.27 seconds. It was the fastest time in his draft class by a long shot; Tavon Austin and Ryan Swope were next at 4.34 seconds.
That speed allows Goodwin to rack up huge yards-per-reception numbers; he led the league with 21.4 yards per reception heading into Week 13.
1. Leonard Fournette, RB, Jacksonville
10 of 10
Top speed: 22.05 mph
The fastest play of the 2017 season came in Week 5 courtesy of Jacksonville Jaguars rookie running back Leonard Fournette.
Fournette broke away for a 90-yard touchdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers, demonstrating with each step why the Jaguars selected him with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2017 draft.
What's more, Fournette lays claim to the second-fastest play the league has seen this season as well. In Week 6, the rookie once again showed off his wheels when he ran for a 75-yard touchdown, reaching a top speed of 21.75 mph.
It's hard to quite put into perspective how remarkable a human running 22 mph is, but for comparison's sake, Usain Bolt's top speed clocks in at 27.7 mph, the world record.
However, Fournette, whose Twitter handle used to be @cheetah, isn't satisfied with his NFL-record play speed this season.
"I ran faster than that in college," Fournette said, per Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com. "It's all about getting my legs back under me. ... I ran, like, 23 mph in college, so [I'm] just trying to get my old speed back."
Whatever you say, Cheetah.
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