Robert Smith was the Wr in the 80's that could fly. When he played here Fry said he was the fastest Hawk ever.
Robert Towsend (Rutgers transfer caught a TD pass vs Minny) has to be up there, he played with Sanders and Calvin Davis and I remember when asked everyone said without hesitation that he was the fastest on that team.
Others, TD, Tavian Banks, have to be up there. I remeber reading that Sed Shaw was a faster 100 runner than Tavian. Not sure if that's accurate or not because Tavian was lighnting.
Another name to conisder was Bashir Yamini. 6'5" Wr who was here on a track Scholly. Hurdler or high jumper I think. I remember watching him run and thinking that he was the fastes Hawk I had ever seen. That could have been his height, his stride or any number of things but that dude looked like he was setting the turf a blaze during warm ups.
The year TD won his Big Ten 100-meter title, he was actually beaten by Yamini in the 200.
But...technically speaking...the fastest Hawk may have been Charles Jones, a track guy (and maybe still 100-meter record holder) who suited up, at Hayden's invitation, on the 1981 team. I believe he even caught a TD pass against Indiana that season.
All that said, there are so many ways we can calculate "speed", especially when it comes to track guys vs. football guys, and whether or not 40-yard times, 100-meter times or 200-meter times are the best measurement of "speed" or "fastest".
For my money, 40-yard and 100-meter times are better indicators of "burst" and "quickness", while 200-meter times are more an indicator of "sustained" speed. And these times are "exciting" when you think of punt returners, kickoff returners or even WRs. For RBs? Quickness is certainly good, but look at Iowa's longest TD runs from scrimmage and you'll see that "speed" was but one component. Ask Shonn Greene if you don't believe me
Seriously, though, how many pass patterns are "designed" for the receivers to not even "look" for the ball until they have covered 40 yards? How many 200-meter KO returns have you witnessed, other than those by Forrest Gump? And how many 4.5 DBs have not only adequately covered "faster" WRs, but have also run them down?
And how is it that Adrian Clayborn was able to run parrallel to the LOS and run down Nic Grigsby from behind?
Again, so many variables to "speed". It's certainly nice to have, but a "smart" player uses far more than just "speed" in order to be effective on the field.
One thing we can all agree is that players are getting bigger, stronger AND faster. That includes the players in the slow, fat, beefy Big Ten
