Athleticism matters in the NFL, there’s no way around that. Just ask anybody who’s tried to block a pass rusher with Von Miller’s quickness or cover a receiver with a vertical like Julio Jones. There are limits to what athletic testing numbers can tell us about prospects heading into the draft, though. We witnessed a couple excellent examples of this on Twitter yesterday.
One of the best follows during draft season is Kent Lee Platte, who shares athletic testing numbers for prospects compared to others at their respective positions. Seahawks safety Quandre Diggs was one he posted yesterday. The results aren’t pretty.
Pro Bowler Quandre Diggs was drafted with pick 200 of round 6 in the 2015 draft class. He scored a 2.23 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 318 out of 408 FS from 1987 to 2015. https://t.co/wJEw677X83 #RAS pic.twitter.com/1C7wAxVOoM
— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) April 18, 2022
Diggs himself got a kick out of it, admitting he’s not a tester.
Lmao i’m not a tester but everybody ain’t me! 🥴 https://t.co/H2cd1qEi2K
— Nino (@qdiggs6) April 18, 2022
Another interesting profile that Platte shared on Monday was that of free agent safety Tyrann Mathieu, who’s been one of the top DBs in the game over the last decade. Like Diggs, Mathieu’s scoring was relatively pathetic.
Pro Bowler Tyrann Mathieu was drafted with pick 69 of round 3 in the 2013 draft class. He scored a 4.34 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 208 out of 366 FS from 1987 to 2013. https://t.co/jYCrCrejnV #RAS pic.twitter.com/JOmtelBre3
— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) April 18, 2022
Meanwhile, there are plenty of bigger, faster, more athletic in general safeties who have washed out over the same time that Diggs and Mathieu have thrived in the league.
It goes to show that physical traits can only carry you so far and the top attribute scouts should look for is pure football ability.
