The tight end position has experienced a real resurgence in recent years, with big, athletic receiving tight ends dominating the league. Blocking tight ends are still valuable, but teams want to exploit every mismatch they can in the vertical game, and that usually means a big, quick tight end going up against a linebacker who can’t compete with jump balls.
NFL Combine results 2016: Official 40-yard dash times for tight ends
Hunter Henry elected not to take part in the 40-yard dash, but we’ve got times for the rest of the tight ends who took part.
Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
As such, the more athletic drills and workouts at the NFL Scouting Combine take on plenty of significance when it comes to tight ends. The 40-yard dash is one of the more overrated drills in the whole combine given how much people put into the final times. But it definitely matters to an extent, and teams will be on the lookout for the faster tight ends in this year's draft.
On Saturday, the tight ends joined the quarterbacks and wide receivers on the field for their workouts and position drills.
South Carolina tight end Jerell Adams led the position with a time of 4.64 seconds and was the only player to go below 4.7 seconds. All of Tamarrick Hemingway, Thomas Duarte, Austin Hooper, Ben Braunecker and Beau Sandland were in the 4.7 range, while the rest were a bit worse. David Morgan was the slowest at 5.02, but six tight ends, including Hunter Henry of Arkansas, did not take part in the 40.
Below we’ve got the 40-yard dash results for all the tight ends who took part.
| Name | School | Height | Weight | 40 Yard (Official) |
| Jerell Adams | South Carolina | 6'5 | 247 | 4.64 |
| Stephen Anderson | California | 6'2 | 230 | |
| Ben Braunecker | Harvard | 6'3 | 250 | 4.73 |
| Thomas Duarte | UCLA | 6'2 | 231 | 4.72 |
| David Grinnage | North Carolina State | 6'5 | 248 | 4.90 |
| Temmarick Hemmingway | South Carolina State | 6'5 | 244 | 4.71 |
| Hunter Henry | Arkansas | 6'5 | 250 | |
| Tyler Higbee | Western Kentucky | 6'6 | 249 | |
| Austin Hooper | Stanford | 6'4 | 254 | 4.72 |
| Ryan Malleck | Virginia Tech | 6'4 | 247 | |
| Jake McGee | Florida | 6'5 | 250 | |
| David Morgan | UT-San Antonio | 6'4 | 262 | 5.02 |
| Beau Sandland | Montana State | 6'4 | 253 | 4.74 |
| Nick Vannett | Ohio State | 6'6 | 257 | |
| Bryce Williams | East Carolina | 6'6 | 257 |
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