Today I wanted to visualize some great data from Kent Lee Platt’s Relative Athletic Scores (RAS) for running backs (RB). Here is a link to Platt’s website in case you haven’t seen his work: https://ras.football/.
To qualify for a RAS score, a player must have a total of six recorded metrics from any of the following: height, weight, 40-yard dash, 20-yard split, 10-yard split, bench press, vertical jump, broad jump, short shuttle, and 3-Cone. The player is then graded on each in comparison to the positional database since 1987 to get more of a feel for their size, speed, explosion, agility, and total value, giving context to the raw numbers.
The goal of the series is to provide the RAS from Platt and visualize it to get a simultaneous view of all the players at their position who participated at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine. Here are the players who qualified for a RAS (NOTE: Positions are grouped from the Scouting Combine results tracker compiled by Dave Bryan and Alex Kozora):
Six players have a RAS above nine, compared to five in my 2023 RB RAS article. Topping this year’s list is Isaac Guerendo of Louisville with an impressive 9.97 RAS. He has elite speed and explosion with great size and agility (30 3/4-incharms and 9 1/4-inch hands).
Tennessee’s Jaylen Wright (9.81 RAS) has elite speed and explosion, okay size, but no agility testing (31 1/2-inch arms and 9 3/8-inch hands).
Tyrone Tracy Jr. of Purdue (9.78 RAS) has elite explosion and agility, great speed, and good size (31 3/4-inch arms and 9 1/8-inch hands).
Florida State’s Trey Benson (9.76 RAS) has elite speed with good size and explosion, but no agility testing (31 1/2-inch arms and 9 1/4-inch hands).
Will Shipley of Clemson (9.57 RAS) has elite agility with great speed and explosion, and okay size (30 1/4-inch arms and 9 5/8-inch hands).
South Dakota State’s Isaiah Davis (9.04 RAS) has great size with good speed and explosion but no agility testing (31 1/8-inch arms and 10 1/4-inch hands).
Six RBs have a RAS in the eight range. Kimani Vidal of Troy (8.85 RAS) has elite speed with great explosion and agility but poor size (30 3/8-inch arms and 9 3/8-inch hands).
New Hampshire’s Dylan Laube (8.77 RAS) has elite agility with good speed and explosion but poor size. Shorter 29 3/8-inch arms and 9 1/4-inch hands.
Marshawn Lloyd of USC (8.59 RAS) has good speed and explosion, okay size, but no agility testing (30 3/8-inch arms and 9 3/4-inch hands).
Boise State’s George Holani (8.32 RAS) has elite explosion, good speed, okay size, but poor agility. Shorter 29 3/4-inch arms and 9 3/4-inch hands.
Blake Corum of Michigan (8.28 RAS) has elite agility and good speed but poor size and didn’t qualify in explosion (35.5-inch vertical, no broad jump). Low 28 7/8-inch arms and 9-inch hands.
Georgia’s Kendall Milton (8.06 RAS) has elite size, great explosion, and okay speed but didn’t qualify in agility (4.38 shuttle, no three cone). Has 31 3/4-inch arms and 9 5/8-inch hands.
Two players are in the seven tier. Keilan Robinson of Texas (7.3 RAS) has great speed and good explosion but very poor size and didn’t qualify in agility (4.3 shuttle, no three-cone). Has 30 5/8-inch arms and 9 5/8-inch hands.
Arizona’s Michael Wiley (7.14 RAS) has great speed with okay size and explosion but poor agility (30-inch arms and 9 1/4-inch hands).
Another two RBs are in the six range. Audric Estime of Notre Dame (6.56 RAS) has elite explosion and good size but very poor speed and no agility testing (32 3/8-inch arms and 10 1/4-inch hands).
Monmouth’s Jaden Shirden (6.29 RAS) has great speed and okay explosion but very poor size and no agility testing. Shorter 28 3/4-inch arms and 9 1/4-inch hands.
Once again, two players are in the next group (five-plus RAS). Dillon Johnson of Washington (5.85 RAS) has good size and okay speed but poor explosion and no agility testing (30-inch arms and 9 3/8-inch hands).
Kentucky’s Re’Mahn Davis (5.35 RAS) has good explosion and okay speed but poor size and didn’t qualify in agility (4.51 shuttle, no three-cone (30 1/4-inch arms and 8 7/8-inch hands).
After a huge drop-off, we see the final four players. Emani Bailey of TCU (2.8 RAS) has okay speed and explosion but very poor size and no agility testing. Shorter 29 7/8-inch arms and 9 3/4-inch hands.
Missouri’s Cody Schrader (2.28 RAS) has okay speed but poor size with very poor explosion and agility. Shorter 28 1/8-inch arms and 9 1/8-inch hands.
Bucky Irving of Oregon (2.19 RAS) has okay speed but poor explosion with very poor size, and no agility testing. Shorter 29 1/2-inch arms and 9 1/2-inch hands.
The lowest RAS at RB is Georgia’s Daijun Edwards at 1.85. He has okay agility but poor size and speed with very poor explosion. Shorter 29 3/4-inch arms and 9 1/2-inch hands.
There are more prominent needs for the Steelers than running back, no doubt, but it will be interesting to see if they address the position in the 2024 draft or perhaps the undrafted pool.
For those who like the numbers, it’s unfortunate a few players didn’t test fully, and it will be interesting to monitor the pro days and continue to see how the men stack up in the coming weeks when Platt updates the site with the unofficial numbers.
What are your thoughts on the data? Thanks for reading and let me know your thoughts in the comments.
