INDIANAPOLIS — The big men opened the workout portion of the NFL scouting combine Thursday in Lucas Oil Stadium. It didn’t take long for one of them to set the tone.
The University of Pittsburgh‘s Calijah Kancey, at 6-foot-1, 281 pounds, had a 4.67 official time in the 40-yard dash, the fastest time by a defensive tackle at the combine since 2006, when ESPN Stats & Information began tracking data from the event.
Kancey was in the first group of players at the combine to participate in the on-field workouts. The defensive linemen and linebackers, divided into three groups, were the first to do the on-field drills.
Kancy, who was Pitt’s first unanimous All-American since Aaron Donald in 2013 and was an Outland Trophy finalist, had come to Indianapolis having already drawn raves from scouts for his work at the Senior Bowl.
Kancey led the nation’s interior defenders this past season with 14.5 tackles for loss and finished with 7.5 sacks as well.
His time was the second fastest by any combine participant who weighed at least 280 pounds since 2006, behind only Mario Williams (4.66), according to ESPN Stats & Info. Donald ran a 4.68 40-yard dash at the 2014 combine.