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UGA Pro Day: Elijah Holyfield struggles again in the 40-yard dash

On Tuesday, Holyfield's 40 times were similar to his figures at last month's Scouting Combine -- posting a range time of 4.76 to 4.85.

ATHENS, Ga. — In the case of tailback Elijah Holyfield, the numbers apparently don't lie.

At UGA's Pro Day on Georgia's campus, before a large gathering of NFL scouts, executives and media, Holyfield's 40-yard-dash times ran similar to his so-so figures at last month's Scouting Combine – posting a range of 4.76 to 4.85 seconds.

(NOTE: The Tuesday times were unofficially gauged on hand-held devices.)

With this middling consistency, Holyfield — who left Georgia after his junior campaign — must now convince NFL teams that he's worth a Day 2 or 3 selection. This, despite logging times closer to those of tight ends or nimble offensive linemen, instead of this year's crop of lightning-fast tailbacks.

For example, eight different tailbacks notched sub-4.5 40s in Indianapolis. They were Justice Hill (4.40), Mike Weber, Darrell Henderson, Karan Higdon and Miles Sanders, to name a few.

Of course, some teams might be indifferent about Holyfield’s Tuesday results, since he possesses a power-rushing skill set that translates better to on-field action ... than a track-style setup.

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On the down side, other teams might not prefer Holyfield (1,018 rushing yards, 7 TDs last year, while averaging 6.4 yards per carry) in the latter rounds, since he wasn’t particularly dynamic in the pass-catching realm (seven total receptions in a three-year span).

From a numbers-comp perspective, Holyfield (5-foot-10, 217 pounds) and former Saints tailback Mark Ingram tallied similar ranges with 40 time, bench press, broad jump and vertical leap.

Charting his 2011 Combine results, Ingram had a better vertical (31 1/2 inches) and 40 time (4.62 seconds), but Holyfield enjoyed the edge with bench press (26 reps of 225 pounds).

The broad jump tallies were identical, at 118 inches.

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