The wait is over.
The 2026 college football season officially got underway Saturday, and as teams prepare to trade offseason projections for actual games, one trait continues to separate some of the game's most dangerous playmakers: speed.
Clemson made a concerted effort to add more of it this offseason, particularly at wide receiver, running back and in the secondary. The Tigers' additions include several players who have legitimate track speed, and running back Chris Johnson Jr. might have one of the most intriguing speed profiles in the country.
Director of strength and conditioning Dennis Love has referenced a 4.24-second 40-yard dash for Johnson, a number that has quickly become part of the conversation surrounding the former SMU Mustang and Dillard High School (FL) standout.
“We were kind of racing against each other and then he just kind of took off. I was like, ‘Whoa,’” junior running back David Eziomume said. “Like that 4.2 was real and when I watched him run his 40 as well, I’m just like, ‘No, that speed is definitely real though.’”
Johnson's track résumé provides additional evidence.
He recorded a wind-aided 10.25 seconds in the 100 meters at Dillard, but he also owns legal performances of 10.45 and 10.48.
Is that speed visible while wearing pads?
“The same guy. I don't feel like it changes him at all,” said Eziomume, a former sprinter at North Cobb High (GA) with a personal best of 10.84 in the 100 meters.
Reel Analytics provided another measure of Johnson's speed. On his 87-yard touchdown run against Stanford last season, he reached a max speed of 22.3 mph (No. 2 overall in 2025), evidence that his track speed translates to the football field.
Love has also stated that redshirt freshman wide receiver Juju Preston is a “4.3 guy.”
Preston doesn't have an established track background to verify his speed, but the incoming receiver class has supplied plenty of measurable evidence of theirs.
Gordon Sellars ran 10.93 seconds in the 100 meters.
Naeem Burroughs owns a 10.59.
Connor Salmin has posted 10.51 and 10.44 (wind-aided).
Clemson's secondary has its own speed story.
“He's probably one of the top two fastest kids on the team. He's big. He's strong. He can fly,” head coach Dabo Swinney said of cornerback Corian Gipson, who has legal times of 10.62 and 10.63.
Transfer cornerbacks Donovan Starr (Auburn) and Elliott Washington II (Penn State) have prep times of 10.56 and 10.69, respectively. Both have also posted a reported 40-yard dash time of 4.32 seconds at their previous schools.
Other speedsters to watch:
Gideon Davidson, RB -- 10.69
Sammy Brown, LB -- 10.70
Tayveon Wilson, TE -- 10.78
Tyler Brown, WR -- 10.87
So, who are the fastest players entering the 2026 season?
Rather than relying exclusively on 40-yard dash times, which aren't always publicly available or consistently verified at the college level, we wanted to identify some of college football's fastest players using legal 100-meter track times.
Here is the group that stands out nationally (*collegiate time):
1) Jelani Watkins, WR, Arkansas -- 9.95*
2) Camden Capehart, WR, Mississippi State -- 10.02
3) Nyck Harbor, WR, South Carolina -- 10.11*
4) Gatlin Bair, WR, Oregon -- 10.15
5) Rodrick Pleasant, CB, UCLA -- 10.16*
6) Malachi James, RB, Eastern Michigan -- 10.18
7) Eric Singleton Jr., WR, Florida -- 10.20
8) Brandon Arrington Jr., CB, Texas A&M -- 10.21
9) Dwight Phillips Jr., RB, Georgia -- 10.24
Zion Ragins, WR, Mississippi State -- 10.24
Jordan Washington, RB, Washington -- 10.24
12) Ernest Campbell, WR, Colorado -- 10.26*
13) Will Henderson III, RB, UTSA -- 10.28
Caden Durham, RB, LSU -- 10.28
15) Paul Kuhner, WR, Princeton -- 10.30
16) Rashon Luke, RB, Fresno State -- 10.32
17) Phillip Wright III, WR, LSU -- 10.34
18) Charles Ross II, LB, LSU -- 10.36
Rodney Sermons Jr., CB, USC -- 10.36
20) Jack Pitchford, S, TCU -- 10.39
One player who doesn't appear on the sub-10.40 list but deserves attention is Florida State wide receiver, Micahi Danzy.
Danzy's 100-meter prep personal best is 10.61 seconds, but his most impressive track accomplishment came in the 400 meters.
At the 2025 ACC Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Danzy ran 44.38 seconds in the 400 meters, setting both an ACC and Florida State record.
