Jeremiyah Love recorded a 4.36-second 40-yard dash at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, marking the second-fastest time among running backs at the event. The clocking reinforced Love’s status as a top back in the 2025 draft class after a 2024 regular season at Notre Dame in which he carried 199 times for 1,372 yards and 18 touchdowns. Arkansas back Mike Washington Jr. posted the fastest mark at 4.33 seconds, and four other backs in the top five helped make this the fastest running back group in Combine history. How teams weigh that speed heading into April’s draft will shape Love’s draft rise.
Key Takeaways
- Jeremiyah Love ran a 4.36 40-yard dash at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, the second-fastest among running backs at that event.
- Mike Washington Jr. of Arkansas posted the quickest RB time at 4.33 seconds; Wake Forest’s Demond Claiborne, Alabama’s Jam Miller, and Navy’s Eli Heidenreich completed the top five.
- Love’s college production: 199 carries, 1,372 rushing yards, and 18 touchdowns during the 2024 regular season at Notre Dame.
- All five top backs were part of what was measured as the fastest running back group in Combine history, based on top-end 40 times at this combine.
- Ashton Jeanty was the first running back selected in the 2025 NFL Draft, going at No. 6 overall, a data point teams may use when valuing speed in this class.
- Love’s time is a tangible metric that can improve his draft positioning, though teams still weigh pass protection, route work, and medicals.
Background
The NFL Scouting Combine has long been a focal point for teams to measure athletic traits that are difficult to evaluate on tape. Speed, especially the 40-yard dash, remains a headline metric for running backs because it correlates with burst and open-field potential. Over recent years, NFL decision-makers have expanded their evaluation to include shuttle times, game film, and schematic fit, but a sub-4.4 40 still draws attention and can separate prospects.
Jeremiyah Love entered the week regarded by many draft boards as the top or near-top running back in the 2025 class after a high-usage, high-efficiency season at Notre Dame. His workload and touchdown production placed him among the college leaders, and scouts flagged his tape for a combination of contact balance and open-field acceleration. The Combine timing systems and controlled environment are intended to produce consistent comparisons across prospects, which is why Love’s 4.36 is discussed alongside other elite times.
Main Event
In Indianapolis, Love posted a 4.36 on the official timing clock, a mark that put him behind only Arkansas’s Mike Washington Jr., who ran a 4.33. Timing officials recorded several sub-4.4 runs among backs this year, contributing to the unusual concentration of top-end times in a single class. Those performances have led analysts to label the 2025 RB cohort as the fastest measured at a Combine to date.
Beyond the 40, scouts observed Love’s on-field interviews, positional drills, and medical checks as part of the Combine process. Teams are using the full package—game tape, positional workout, medical reports, and interviews—when ranking backs prior to pro days and private workouts. Love’s 199 carries for 1,372 yards and 18 touchdowns at Notre Dame remain central to his evaluation and provide the production context for the raw speed shown on the track.
Other backs who posted top times included Wake Forest’s Demond Claiborne, Alabama’s Jam Miller, and Navy’s Eli Heidenreich; each ran times that placed them among the five fastest backs at this Combine. Those performances, alongside Washington Jr.’s 4.33 and Love’s 4.36, formed the statistical basis for calling this the fastest RB group in Combine history. How individual teams prioritize that speed varies by scheme and running-back role.
Analysis & Implications
Love’s 4.36 is a clear, quantifiable demonstration of straight-line speed, and for many teams it strengthens his case as a day-two or early-day-three pick depending on other pre-draft interactions. Speed can uplift a back’s perceived upside, particularly for clubs that prioritize outside-zone concepts or pitch-and-stretch schemes that create space in which a fast back can separate.
However, the Combine 40 is only one piece of the evaluation puzzle. Teams will weigh Love’s pass protection, receiving ability, contact balance, and injury history alongside his time. A back with sub-4.4 speed who struggles in pass-blocking or receiving is still likely to see draft-grade skepticism from some evaluators. Conversely, if Love demonstrates reliable blocking and route dexterity in follow-up visits, his 40 time will amplify his draft value.
Economically, a higher draft slot can translate to materially larger rookie contract guarantees. If Love’s combined profile — production, testing, and interviews — persuades teams to bid earlier, the financial and roster opportunity costs for the selecting club increase. For the league as a whole, a cluster of fast backs entering the draft could prompt teams to re-evaluate how they value single-trait testing versus week-in, week-out tape.
Comparison & Data
| Player | School | 40 Time (s) |
|---|---|---|
| Mike Washington Jr. | Arkansas | 4.33 |
| Jeremiyah Love | Notre Dame | 4.36 |
| Demond Claiborne | Wake Forest | Top-five time |
| Jam Miller | Alabama | Top-five time |
| Eli Heidenreich | Navy | Top-five time |
The table highlights the fastest measured backs at Indianapolis; official 40 times are published by Combine timing and team reports. Using both the raw 40 and college production gives teams a clearer forecast of a prospect’s pro potential. In this class, multiple backs posted elite times, compressing relative athletic separation and increasing the emphasis on nuance such as scheme fit and pass-game traits.
Reactions & Quotes
He showed the kind of speed teams covet at the position; that 4.36 validates what we saw on tape.
NFL scout (on background)
Context: A league scout summarized how Love’s timed speed matched film impressions, noting teams view the 40 as one confirmatory metric among many.
Jeremiyah’s Combine performance only underlines his burst without changing the need to evaluate him across all reps and medical checks.
Pro personnel director (team source)
Context: A team personnel official emphasized that speed will improve Love’s stock only if it is matched by positional polish in subsequent evaluations.
Unconfirmed
- Exactly how many teams will materially move Love up their boards because of the 4.36 time is not yet confirmed and depends on private workouts and medical results.
- Comparative rankings that weigh the Combine 40 above game tape vary by team; any assertion that Love will be a first-round pick solely on the 40 is unconfirmed.
Bottom Line
Jeremiyah Love’s 4.36 40-yard dash at the 2025 Combine gives him measurable evidence of elite straight-line speed and complements a productive 2024 season at Notre Dame. That timing strengthens his draft profile, particularly for teams that prize burst and open-field separation, but it is one factor among many that clubs will analyze before deciding how high to take him.
Follow-up events—private workouts, pro days, interviews, and medical clearances—will determine whether Love’s Combine speed results in a tangible rise on draft boards. For now, the 4.36 is a headline-grabbing metric that confirms his athletic upside and keeps him squarely in conversations as one of the class’s top running back prospects.