Dolphins 40 times: How Miami’s 'track team' compares to fastest in NFL history, Olympic sprinters & more

The Dolphins were already a scary fast team in 2022 when they had Tyreek Hill and Raheem Mostert to an offense that already featured Jaylen Waddle. Then they went out and drafted running back De'Von Achane to add to all that speed.

Now, is there anyone that can keep up with that team? Based on the team's showing over the past few seasons, it sure doesn't seem like it.  Miami scored 496 points in 2023, the second-highest tally in the league. For a while, the team was one pace to string together one of the most prolific campaigns in league history. According to Stathead, only six teams in NFL history scored more points after six games than the 2023 Dolphins: Peyton Manning's 2013 Broncos, the 2000 edition of The Greatest Show on Turf, Drew Brees' 2009 Saints, Tom Brady's 2007 Patriots and two teams before the merger.

While it's easy enough to look at points scored, it's another thing to compare pure speed. Few would deny Miami is the fastest team in the NFL at present, based on its four offensive stars. But how do they compare historically, and perhaps with athletes in other sports?

Sporting News is diving into the Dolphins' impressive speed numbers to see just how explosive this offense really is.

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Tyreek Hill 40 time

Hill was not a participant in the 2016 NFL Combine due to a domestic abuse arrest. The South Alabama wide receiver ran at his school's Pro Day, and was clocked in at a 4.29 40-yard dash.

De'Von Achane 40 time

Achane ran at the 2023 NFL Combine, and posted a time of 4.32 in the 40-yard dash, perhaps a surprising time given his top speeds posted in the 2023 NFL season.

Raheem Mostert 40 time

Back in the 2015 NFL Draft, Mostert posted a 40-yard dash time of 4.34 seconds, sixth-fastest in the class, while also making him on paper the slowest of the Dolphins' speedy trio. 

Jaylen Waddle 40 time

Waddle opted not to participate in the 2021 NFL Combine, so like Hill, he does not have an official number. But according to NFL GameDay, he has posted a 40-yard dash time of 4.37 seconds.

MORE: How Dolphins' offense compares vs. The Greatest Show on Turf

Dolphins speed compared to fastest NFL teams

The Dolphins' quartet are not just one of the fastest groups this year, but they are one of the fastest in recent history.

There are several ways to evaluate how fast players are. The first, and most common for fans, is to look at times in the 40-yard dash.

Hill, Achane, Mostert and Waddle collectively average a 40-yard dash time of 4.33 based on combine numbers and best reported numbers for those who did not participate in the NFL combine. Data from the NFL combine is only available going back to 2000 on ProFootballReference, but based on those numbers, it puts that group of players in rare air.

Here's a look at the only other quartets of skill position players on the same NFL roster that combined to average a 40 time of 4.33 or better. Bear in mind, these players were not all starters.

Those offenses might have had speed, but that didn't mean they were always the best. The Raiders averaged the sixth-most points in the NFL in 2010 and were 16th in 2011, while the 2015 Cardinals were second in scoring average in their respective season.

Over time, players get faster or slow down, and 40 times are not always the most representative of how athletes will run while wearing pads and helmets and running routes. But since the start of 2016, the NFL has collected tracking data for any players that have carried the football as part of its Next Gen Stats. Plays tracked are only on rushes, receptions, interceptions, fumble recoveries and fumble and punt returns.

Through the first six weeks of the 2023 season, the Dolphins had all five of the top five fastest speeds tracked, and seven of the top 10. Here's a look at the top 10 fastest times tracked by Next Gen Stats.

* - Achane's three-yard rush was brought back on a holding penalty

If that looks a bit ridiculous, it's because it is. Only the Colts in 2021 finished the year with more than two of the top 10 speeds in a season, with all three belonging to Jonathan Taylor. Finishing with seven would be unheard of, especially with the times belonging to three different players.

Like with the 40 times, there have rarely been quartets of players on the same team that have posted these types of top speeds in the history of NFL's Next Gen Stats. Between Hill, Achane, Mostert and Waddle, the four have combined to average 21.64 mph at their fastest measured speeds.

How many other units have at a top four group of skill players that have averaged? That would be only two, with just one other tying the Dolphins — that team also had Mostert.

Just how much faster were these four Dolphins than other teams in 2023? Let's put it to the test.

Only seven other NFL teams this season have had at least four different players register on the Next Gen Stats fastest plays at some point this season. But with those four, we're going to put together some relay races. Here's the contestants from each team:

And how would they look in a 4x100m race? Here's a look:

The rest of the field keeps it close for a little bit, but it does not take long until the Dolphins really start to open it up on everyone else. The gap between Miami and second-place Green Bay (2.15) is wider than the gap between the Packers and the last-place Cowboys (0.78).

So yeah, they're pretty fast. So fast that it might make more sense to compare the Dolphins to athletes better suited to keep up in a track meet.

Dolphins speed compared to Olympians

Back in college, Hill, Achane and Mostert each ran track for Oklahoma State, Texas A&M and Purdue, respectively. And it should be no surprise that all of them were quite successful on the track.

Before @MiamiDolphins Tyreek Hill (@cheetah), De'Von Achane (@ffvmousvon_) and Raheem Mostert (@RMos_8Ball) were blazing past @NFL defenses, they ran track for @run4okstate, @aggietfxc and @PurdueTrackXC 🤩 #NCAATF pic.twitter.com/j0363K5RB1

— NCAA Track & Field (@NCAATrackField) October 11, 2023

Well, what would happen if Hill, Achane, Mostert and Waddle joined together to form a 4x400m relay team?

U.S. men's 4x400m relay team

Based on their top speeds from Next Gen Stats in 2023, they'd be well ahead of the United States' 2020 Olympic gold-medal winning relay team. The fastest split among any of the four Olympic athletes in the 4x400 was 43.4 seconds, which came in the anchor leg by Rai Benjamin.

Converting the speeds of Hill, Achane, Mostert and Waddle from miles per hour to meters per second and pushing it over 400 meters each, the top time would be Hill at 40.7 seconds. Of course, given the distance, it is unlikely any of them could maintain that speed over that type of distance — Hill ran 64 yards on that run, or 58.5 meters.

Still, it's an entertaining exercise to see how they would compare:

Italy 4x100m relay team

This is at least a slightly closer comparison in terms of the speed across the distance. Achane, who went 67 yards with a top speed of 21.93 mph, would have the closest distance to 100 meters, given that his distance translates to 61.2 meters.

Based on Italy's semifinal performance, here's how the top speeds of the Dolphins would hold up over the shorter distance event.