NFL Draft: Rookie RB Athletic Scores

The third and final step in the pre-Draft Running Back prospect evaluations is the Rookie RB Athletic Scores.

It all began with Rookie RB Film Grades. Then I added Rookie RB College Production to the mix. Finally, I incorporated Athletic Testing numbers to the equation, in order to get my RB prospect rankings completed before the 2024 NFL Draft.

Specifically, the Relative Athletic Score metric takes all of the data from various athletic testing drills, and combining them into one number. This Relative Athletic Score information can be found on the RAS website.

Below, you will see a table incorporating all of the components from the previous articles, such as overall film grades, and average scrimmage yards per season. Now, I have also added the RAS data for most players. However, you will see some some running backs do not have any athletic testing data. That is typically because these players did not participate in the NFL Scouting Combine.

Rookie RB Athletic Scores

Running into the Top 3

Through the first two steps of the running back prospect evaluation process, the same players remained inside the top 3 at the position. However, the top tier transforms slightly once we take athletic testing numbers into account. Jaylen Wright was ranked as RB #5 in my film grade evaluation, and remained there once production was added to the process. But then, the tail-back from Tennessee produced a 9.81 RAS, which is the best among the running backs evaluated throughout this series. As a result, I moved him all the way up to RB #2 in my final pre-draft rankings.

However, my RB #1 in the 2024 class remains Blake Watson. Looking at the table above, you will se that he does not have an official RAS. That is because Watson was not invited to the combine. Instead, he did all of his athletic testing at the Memphis Pro Day, during which he produced excellent results. That includes a 4.4 second 40-yard dash, a 41.5 inch vertical jump, and and 11.3 inch broad jump. All those numbers stand inside the top 5 among all running backs in this class. Those athletic testing number were the final piece needed to solidify Watson as the best running back pre-draft. We shall soon see what the NFL thinks of him.

Biggest Risers

There were three major risers from the production rankings to these current ranks that include athletic testing numbers. All three of these running backs rose exactly 7 spots and remained grouped together. First, we have Trey Benson moving from RB #13 to RB #6. The Florida State product produced only one season in college with at least 20 receptions. In fact, he just hit that 20 catch threshold which would indicate that he is likely to have at least some passing volume at the next level. But what really caused this rise in the ranks was Benson’s RAS of 9.77, the second best among the prospects in this article series.

Will Shipley actually has the 3rd best RAS among running backs in the table above. This also allowed him to move up the rankings, from RB #14 to RB #7. Coming out of Clemson, a school that is typically pass-heavy, will certainly help. Shipley had a single-season high of 38 receptions, almost double Benson’s best mark. However, Benson holds the edge in film score, average scrimmage yards per season, and finally RAS. Therefore, Benson remains one spot ahead of Shipley.

The final big riser in the rankings was Blake Corum. The Michigan man actually had a higher average scrimmage yards per season, as compared to Benson and Shipley. Yet, his RAS was not as elite. A score of 8.48 is still respectable, just not among the top 3 in the class. This is why Corum is remains behind Benson and Shipley. Still, a seven spot increase is notable as Corum moved from RB #15 to RB #8 in the final pre-draft rankings.

Vital to Success

A prospect’s RAS can sometime make or break their case to be drafted by an NFL team. In some cases, these athletic testing numbers are vital for a player’s success, especially at running back where there are so many prospects available for so few spots on rosters. Take Kimani Vidal for instance. The Troy product was ranked as RB #17 in my film grade evaluations. And once production was incorporated, Vidal did not go up in the rankings. However, with an RAS of 8.84, he moved up four spots to RB # 13 in the final pre-draft RB rankings. Maybe that RAS will be high enough for Vidal to land in the pros with decent enough draft capital.

On the contrary, take Daijun Edwards who has just tumbled down my rankings. This running back out of Georgia actually began as RB #10 in my film grade evaluations. However, with less than an average of 1,000 scrimmage yards per season, he dipped slightly to RB #12. Next, came the athletic testing, which was absolutely abysmal for Edwards. With an RAS of 1.73, he has the lowest mark of any prospect outlined in this article series. The only reason Edwards is still in the top 20, is because I only looked at 20 running backs. Overall, he suffered a fall of 10 spots from version 1.0 to version 3.0 of the RB rankings. While other aspects of his profile looked decent, this horrible RAS may lead to Edwards going undrafted.

We’ll find out everything in due time. For now, thank you for reading Rookie RB Athletic Scores. Be sure to check out all of the great NFL Draft content available on Full Press Coverage.