WATCH: Former Miami safety Bubba Bolden takes off for 40-yard dash
Former Miami Hurricanes safety Bubba Bolden, one of the more physically-ready safeties in the upcoming draft, has size that most at his position can only hope to have coming out of college — but after running the 40-yard dash in the 2022 NFL Draft Combine, it became clear that Bolden’s speed may need a little bit of work at the next level.
Bolden, who just finished up his fourth year at Miami and his fifth in college, ran a 4.58-second 40-yard dash in his first attempt, an unofficial time that would put him towards the bottom of the draft-eligible safeties that participated in the 2022 NFL Combine.
Among the safeties that participated, Bolden’s 4.58-second time was 12th-best among all safeties, with only three prospects putting up worse times: Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton ran a 4.59-second 40-yard dash, while UCLA’s Quentin Lake ran a 4.64-second time and Georgia Tech’s Juanyeh Thomas ran a 4.67-second dash.
However, Bolden quickly made up for his first attempt with a strong second sprint. In his second effort, he recorded a 4.53-second 40-yard dash time, which ranked 11th-best among all safeties.
A native of Las Vegas, NV, Bolden was a four-star prospect coming out of high school, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. With that rating, the Bishop Gorman product was the No. 8 safety in the 2017 recruiting class, as well as the No. 3-overall prospect coming out of the state of Nevada.
Bolden committed to USC as a high schooler, but he hardly saw the field in the 2017 season with the Trojans. In taking a redshirt season, Bolden amassed just eight tackles (seven solo stops) in his only season with the USC Trojans, before he ultimately entered the NCAA Transfer Portal and went to Miami. At Miami, Bolden was forced to sit out a year as a transfer student, but he quickly made an impact with the Hurricanes’ defense.
A 6-foot-3, 204-pound safety, Bolden began to work his way into the rotation in 2019, when he amassed 11 tackles (nine solo stops) and an interception. However, his true breakout season came in 2020, when Bolden had about as solid a performance as possible — in his first season as Miami’s starting safety, wen he appeared in all 11 games, he amassed 74 total tackles (50 solo stops), a sack, four forced fumbles, an interception and three passes defended, showing his ability to make noise in all parts of the defense. His performance was good enough to be a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award.
Per Bleacher Report, Bolden currently grades as an NFL Draft selection in the fourth-round range.