The Vertical Leap is a test of explosion.  Combined with the 10 yard dash time, Broad Jump score, and shuttle drill it helps provide scouts with a good measure of how quickly a player can “explode” into action.

The best Vertical Leap Scores at the NFL Combine since 1999:

  1. 46.0 inches – Gerald Sensabaugh – North Carolina
  2. 45.5 inches – Cameron Wake – Penn State
  3. 45.0 inches – Chris Chambers – Wisconsin
  4. 45.0 inches – Chris McKenzie – Arizona State
  5. 45.0 inches – Donald Washington – Ohio State
  6. 44.0 inches – A.J. Jefferson – Fresno State
  7. 43.5 inches – Jay Hinton – Morgan State
  8. 43.5 inches – Jerry Azumah – New Hampshire
  9. 43.5 inches – Kevin Kasper – Iowa
  10. 43.5 inches – Dustin Fox – Ohio State
  11. 43.5 inches – Dorin Dickerson – Pittsburgh
  12. 43.0 inches – Cedric James – TCU
  13. 43.0 inches – Scott Starks – Wisconsin
  14. 43.0 inches – Darius Butler – Connecticut
  15. 43.0 inches – Eric Berry – Tennessee

The most impressive is perhaps Cameron (Derek) Wake, who posted the second best vertical leap while being quite larger than his closest competition at 6’3″ 236 lbs. Somehow, Wake slipped out of the entire draft and later signed as an undrafted free agent. It’s amazing that nobody took a chance on such an athletic player, but the Dolphins are extremely glad that they finally did.