What South Carolina’s Rico Dowdle ran in the 40-yard dash at the NFL combine
Listed between 215 and 220 pounds for most of his career, South Carolina tailback Rico Dowdle wasn’t known so much for his speed in his time in Columbia.
But the Gamecocks back put up a pretty solid performance in Indianapolis at the NFL combine.
On Friday night, Dowdle ran a 4.54 40-yard dash at a slimmed-down 213 pounds. That put him at No. 11 among running backs, just behind Boston College’s A.J. Dillon.
Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor led the field with a 4.39, and prolific backs such as Georgia’s D’Andre Swift (4.48) and Florida State’s Cam Akers (4.47) also came in ahead of Dowdle. One of the notable backs Dowdle edged out was LSU’s Clyde Edwards-Helaire.
Dowdle also delivered a 38-inch vertical jump (8th among running backs) and 127-inch broad jump (third among running backs). NFL.com has him listed in the “backup/special teams” range of their rankings.
Dowdle battled injuries through most of his four seasons, but was often South Carolina’s top runner when healthy. He had seasons of 764, 654 and 498 yards. He finished with 2.167 yards in 39 career games, ranking 14th in rushing yards in school history.
This story was originally published February 29, 2020 at 8:44 AM.
