In case his dual-threat capabilities weren’t readily apparent enough already, the Arkansas Razorbacks’ Taylen Green just managed to put everyone on notice with his blinding 4.37 40-yard dash time. It’s officially the third fastest time ever recorded by a quarterback at the NFL Combine, and while it may not have been enough to break Michael Vick’s record, it’s still the fastest that any signal caller has moved at the scouting event in the past 20 years.
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When you’re about to become an NFL quarterback, there are a million questions that you typically need to answer. Questions like “What is this defense using to disguise their coverage?” or “What route does the X have on this play?” But what about “Which wide receiver would you be more excited about throwing passes to?”
Well, that’s exactly what Green answered just before he delivered his combine-breaking performance, and suffice to say, it may just be one of the hottest takes of the entire offseason. When asked if he’d prefer throwing to either Justin Jefferson or his fellow Dallas native in Jaxson Smith-Njigba, Green promptly answered that he was “sticking with Dallas and sticking with Jaxson.”
When given the opportunity to swap Smith-Njigba out for the former-triple-crown winner in the Cincinnati Bengals’ Ja’Marr Chase, Green still declined, asserting that “hometown is hometown.” Unfortunately, there’s no guarantee that he’ll be able to fulfill that dream.
Even though his benchmark 40-yard dash time will certainly help to improve his draft stock, Green still figures to be a day-two pick at best and a day-three pick at worst. That will give the Seattle Seahawks plenty of opportunities to draft him, but it doesn’t seem likely that the team will be willing to draft Sam Darnold’s replacement just a few months after he managed to help guide them to a championship win over the New England Patriots at Super Bowl LIX.
After all, they themselves just watched a similar movie play out with the Minnesota Vikings the year prior. Throw in the fact that Seattle’s general manager, John Schneider, has already stated that he wants Darnold to “be our quarterback for a long time,” and it seems safe to say that the Seahawks aren’t interested in spending second- or even third-round draft capital on a quarterback, regardless of what their 40-yard dash time may or may not be.
No, for better or worse, Green will likely have to make do with someone else, but given the amount of rumors involving the aforementioned Vikings and their ongoing frustrations with J.J. McCarthy, there may at least be a chance for him to throw to an equally talented wide receiver in Jefferson, which would be impossible for any rookie QB to complain about.
