Wisconsin offensive lineman Tanor Bortolini is … close to the best athlete at the NFL combine?

If you had Wisconsin offensive lineman Tanor Bortolini registering as one of the best athletes at the NFL combine, raise your hand.

Bortoilini's performance in Indianapolis opened some eyes Sunday, the day offensive line prospects took the field at Lucas Oil Stadium for testing with NFL scouts looking on.

Bortolini's relative athletic score from the combine (with the "relative" meaning he's being judged against players in the same position) came out to 9.97, a metric that factors his grades in the 40-yard dash, jumps and agility drills. That ranks him sixth out of 1,434 offensive guards to post results in those events since 1987.

It's only a shade shy of former Wisconsin running back Isaac Guerendo (9.99) for the best mark at this year's combine among any player. Next Gen Stats gave Bortolini and Guerendo the only scores of 99 in the field.

Next Gen said Bortolini was the fifth interior offensive lineman to record a 99 since 2003 and the first since J.R. Sweezy in 2012. He joins future Hall of Famer Jason Kelce with the highest athleticism score.

NFL reporter Brandon Thorn observed that Bortolini's time in the 3-cone drill (7.16) was the fastest for a center ever, eclipsing Kelce's 7.22 in 2011. It's the third-fastest all time among offensive linemen.

His time of 4.94 in the 40-yard dash took second only to Roger Rosengarten of Washington among offensive linemen (4.92) and tied with Frank Crum of Wyoming (4.94). Both Rosengarten and Crum are tackles. It was Bortolini's second attempt after he clocked a 4.99.

Whether it gives Bortolini a massive bump isn't clear; last year's top two interior linemen according to RAS score at the combine, Milwaukee native Jon Gaines II out of UCLA and Sidy Sow of Eastern Michigan, both went in the fourth round. But the top two in 2022 (Cole Strange of Chattanooga and Zion Johnson of Boston College) both went in the first round. Strange was a surprise riser into that part of the draft.

The Kewaunee native Bortolini was the fifth and final commitment on the offensive line for the Badgers in the 2020 recruiting class, but he was thrown into the fire during the 2020 season by appearing in two games in the COVID-shortened season, and he became indispensable over his four years on the field.

He played 10 games at guard in 2021 for UW and made 10 starts in 2022 at four different positions (including tight end). The 6-foot-4, 310-pounder started every game at center in 2023 for UW, and when he announced he wouldn't be back next year, he received an invite to the combine, joining teammates Maema Njongmeta and Braelon Allen.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin's Tanor Bortolini delivers eye-popping results at NFL combine