Panthers’ Amaré Barno holds on to 40-yard dash record for DL

Georgia’s Nolan Smith may have torched up the combine on Thursday, but Panthers DE Amaré Barno still holds the 40-yard dash record for defensive linemen.

University of Georgia standout Nolan Smith ruled over the first day of on-field drills at the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine. But his run at the throne came up a little short.

On Thursday, the 6-foot-2, 238-pound pass rusher clocked, at least at first, a blazing 4.44-second 40-yard dash. Then, upon further review, the official time bumped him up (or down, really) to a ridiculous 4.39 seconds.

That performance put Smith second all-time amongst defensive linemen in the 40-yard dash. So, still at No. 1, remains Carolina Panthers defensive end Amaré Barno—who is a relatively distant three one-hundredths of a second away.

Barno ran into the history books at last year’s combine. The Virginia Tech product had the official stopwatch read a 4.36, which would later help him get scooped up by the Panthers in the sixth round of the 2022 NFL draft.

As for the runner-up, expect Smith to go a bit higher than that. The projected first-rounder also recorded eye-opening numbers in the vertical jump (41.5 inches) and the broad jump (10 feet, eight inches).

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