Nick Kwiatkoski didn’t run the 40-yard dash at West Virginia University’s pro day Monday. It was a calculated decision.

“My goal at the combine was to get everything to where I was happy with it so I don’t have to do it here,” said the now-former Mountaineers linebacker. “I kind of went back and forth with the 40, and I didn’t know if I wanted to do it. I basically came to the conclusion if I’m not all in, I’m not going to do it, so I chose not to.”

Kwiatkoski’s best 40 at the NFL Draft combine in Indianapolis was 4.73 seconds, which was No. 15 among linebackers, and his 20-yard shuttle was even better. The 4.73 was solid, and the risk outweighed the reward Monday. But Kwiatkoski knows how important that one drill and those scant few seconds are in this process and how it can sometimes trump years of stats and tape.

“A 40 shows a lot,” he said. “In some situations, I would say it’s not that big. You’re not going to see a lineman run 40 yards at top speed too much. But it’s big for special teams and seeing how you’ll run down on the kickoff or the punt and things like that. I think it’s definitely fair and it can be a good thing. It also helps a lot of people. Guys who are underrated come out and run a good time and it puts them on the map.”

Come out and run a bad time, and it’s a different story, which leads to how Daryl Worley spent his Monday and why Wendell Smallwood dared to do what he did.

Worley’s best 40 at the combine was 4.64 seconds. His mother was at Monday’s event, and she confessed her son was sick that day. But the number was the number, and cornerbacks have to meet certain metrics.

Or do they?

“It does express straight-line speed, but at the same time, I feel there are corners in the NFL who tested out at 4.7 and play with 4.3 speed,” he said. “It does have a big toll on things, but at the end of the day, I don’t feel it’s a big deal when it comes down to playing football.”

That’s not an uncommon opinion. Many teams will pick talent over speed, and it’s here where it must be mentioned Worley did well in other drills and was among the best cornerbacks in a few different areas. But teams value speed, either as a pro or a con.

Understand Worley already had people picking apart his game. Is he a corner or a safety? Was he picking off passes and breaking up throws because teams were aiming at him? The 40 time didn’t help, and it “disappointed” Worley all the way through his first 40 Monday that he said wasn’t great.

“The only thing I was really a little worried about was the first 40,” he said. “I know it could have been way faster if I wasn’t doing so much thinking. Coming back on the second one, I got into it. I knew that I could run. That’s all I was thinking about. I hit a pretty solid time everyone was happy with, so I can’t complain.”

Worley said scouts told him he ran that second 40 in 4.49 or 4.5 seconds. Worley said scouts wanted to see him do some work laterally and to validate the positive results from the combine, but he was focused on a better 40, which is perhaps different than a faster 40. Monday, he said, was “a lot better.”

“When I was at the combine, I felt I stumbled on both my attempts, and I didn’t feel comfortable with my starts,” he said. “I went back and critiqued some things, and I was working with my trainers out in Cali at STARS, and then I came back here and worked with our coaching staff on any tips they felt as though I should improve on. Then I put it all together and it came out complete.”

Wendell Smallwood was caught between Kwiatkoski and Worley. His 4.47 40 and other short-space drills proved his speed and explosion, but Smallwood, who’s a junior in the draft as a running back, wanted to show off more than he did that day.

“I knew I could do better,” he said, “so I did.”

He said scouts told him his 40s Monday were timed between 4.37 and 4.39.

“I just like competing,” he said. “I wanted to beat that time. That’s why I did it.”

Smallwood, who also credited WVU’s strength and conditioning staff for improving his form, didn’t have to run. No one there would have blamed him. Some who were there wondered why he did, but Smallwood answered that with aplomb.

“A lot of scouts were pretty happy I ran,” he said. “A lot of them said they didn’t think I should run, but they said, ‘Hey, you ran better.'”

Smallwood said it was a gamble but one he knew he’d win, and he said some teams told him they didn’t know he was as fast as what he showed them. And that’s all he’ll show the rest of the way.

“I’m done,” he said. “I won’t run again until I get to where I’m going.”