Penn State quarterback Christian Hackenberg tests at NFL Combine

Three-year Penn State quarterback Christian Hackenberg participated in quarterback drills at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis on Saturday.

Opening the schedule for the first of two groups of quarterbacks was the 40-yard dash. Hackenberg was last to run out of nine in the group.

The 6-foot-4, 223-pound signal-caller posted a 4.78 official time during his second attempt, which will be taken over his first, a 4.89 run.

Hackenberg was the third-fastest quarterback in the group to participate, behind Jeff Driskel (4.56) and both Trevone Boykin and Carson Wentz (4.77), and tied for the position with Stanford’s Kevin Hogan, who also ran a 4.78 official 40-yard dash in the second group of quarterbacks. The time earned him a “top performer” ranking in overall test results among the positions that day, including wide receivers and tight ends.

NFL head coaches including San Francisco’s Chip Kelly and Houston’s Bill O’Brien were shown via broadcast to be in attendance during the 40-yard dash, as well as multiple scouts from various other NFL teams.

Hackenberg then went on to the jump tests, and posted a 31-inch vertical and a 114-inch broad jump, both of which were near the middle rankings of quarterbacks.

The quarterbacks also threw to the 43 wideouts testing on the same day. Hackenberg struggled with accuracy on three straight routes, but threw a deep ball that NFL Network broadcasters said “drew some ‘oohs and ahs’” from scouts observing drills.

It’s no secret that Hackenberg’s numbers dipped during the past two years of his career, as he took 82 sacks between 2013-15 and completed just 53 percent of his throws his senior year, most of which came under heavy pressure.

Understanding his circumstances is one thing, but explaining what happened to the former No. 1 high school prospect to NFL scouts and team personnel is another.

NFL Network’s Kim Jones spoke to Hackenberg about his time at Penn State, and about the most important part of his NFL Combine weekend: Convincing NFL teams he’s able to play at the next level.

“You look at it and I was a freshman, but I had four or five guys up front who had two or three years of starting experience at Penn State, at Big Ten football,” he said to Jones during the four-minute video clip. “So that took a lot of pressure off of me at 18 (years old), I had a little bit of cushion.

“Then I think the next year, with the majority of those guys graduating and such big question marks going into that year ... I think just the personnel issues for us was an issue. We put so much effort into that, trying to fix it ... I feel that I lost a little bit of time that I could’ve devoted to making myself more successful.”

Jones then asked Hackenberg, after bringing up his 103 career sacks, if by helping Penn State he had actually hurt himself.

“That’s one way to look at it,” he said. “But I’ll make that choice 10 times out of 10. I want the team to be better.”

There is much hype surrounding other quarterbacks such as Jared Goff (who is close friends with Hackenberg and trains with him under Jordan Palmer) and Carson Wentz, and even Ohio State’s Cardale Jones (who had to leave the combine drills with a hamstring issue on Saturday). Hackenberg told Jones he “loves it,” that he’s not the center of focus, and that he “just works.”

His biggest fear, he told her, is never reaching his full potential.

“That’ll eat at you for the rest of your life, you know?” he said.

Penn State defensive line products Anthony Zettel, Carl Nassib and Austin Johnson will go through workouts on Sunday, and safety Jordan Lucas will work out with the defensive backs on Monday.

This story was originally published February 27, 2016 at 10:04 AM with the headline "Penn State quarterback Christian Hackenberg tests at NFL Combine."