'Hidden' talent: Traits NFL teams look for in draft prospects aren't all obvious

Before the NFL Draft, scheduled Thursday-Saturday in Green Bay, teams devote countless hours to scouting players. Teams start by focusing on basic traits, including size, speed and strength. 

However, some traits are more obscure but still important. With that in mind, here are five that NFL scouts consider that you may not have realized:

Multi-sport stars 

At the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, former Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll (now with the Las Vegas Raiders) said whether a prospect has played multiple sports is "vitally important to me." 

Coaches and scouts target multi-sport stars because they've developed skills that translate to football. Look at Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez, who played college basketball for three seasons at California. 

"Any time [Gonzalez] went up for a rebound in traffic, he would come down with the ball," former Kansas City Chiefs general manager Carl Peterson told ESPN's Adam Teicher in a story published in August 2019. "We thought that ability would be useful playing for the Chiefs, and it was." 

Penn State TE Tyler Warren (6-foot-6, 256 pounds) didn't play college basketball, but he was a three-sport star at Atlee High School in Mechanicsville, Virginia. Warren, a good bet to go in the first round, earned all-state honors in baseball and an all-region nod in basketball.

A wrestling background 

Players who wrestled in high school or college tend to have a better understanding of leverage and hand usage.

HOF defensive tackle Curley Culp wrestled at Arizona State and was the 1967 NCAA heavyweight champion. Former New England Patriots guard Stephen Neal — who won three Super Bowls in 10 seasons in New England — was a two-time heavyweight champion at Cal State Bakersfield.

Michigan DT Mason Graham (6-foot-4, 296 pounds) earned a first-team All-American nod in 2024. Troy Thomas, Graham's high school football coach, attributes his success to wrestling. The DT was a two-time conference heavyweight champion at Servite High School in Anaheim, California. 

"You see that now in his game," Thomas told ESPN's Jake Trotter in a story published March 27. "The way he moves and tackles — you can see all of that when he's playing."

Spin rate 

Spin rate measures the number of rotations a football makes per minute when thrown. A higher spin rate typically equals a tighter spiral, which is imperative for quarterbacks.

The average spin rate in the NFL is approximately 592 rpm. During a 2009 episode of the TV show "Sports Science," former New Orleans Saints QB Drew Brees clocked an average spin rate of 600 rpm (h/t Jeff Duncan, a former writer for The Athletic). In 20 seasons with the Saints and Chargers, Brees completed the second-most passes (7,142) in NFL history.

Kyle McCord's ability to spin it may be one reason the Syracuse QB could be a potential sleeper. 

Per The Athletic's Nick Baumgardner, the 6-foot-3, 218-pound transfer from Ohio State's average spin rate at a throwing session during the East-West Shrine Bowl in January was 699 rpm. His highest spin rate was 740 rpm, and 16 of his 28 throws were above 700. 

Situational awareness

Situational awareness could also be defined as football IQ, as it refers to a player's ability to understand the game.

The situational awareness of Colorado cornerback/wide receiver Travis Hunter (6-foot, 188 pounds) helped him win the 2024 Heisman Trophy.  

"Hunter's situational awareness is one of his best traits," wrote The Draft Network in a March scouting report. "He understands offensive formations and what routes can potentially manifest post-snap, especially in the red zone. He works the press-bail well by quickly jamming his receiver before dropping to his landmarks and will hinge toward threatening routes entering his zone."

Contact balance 

Contact balance is a player's ability to stay upright while being tackled, which is pivotal for running backs, especially those who are undersized.

Per Pro Football Focus, Green Bay Packers RB Josh Jacobs (5-foot-10, 223 pounds) finished third in the league in yards after contact (1,039) in 17 regular-season games in 2024.

Like Jacobs, Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty (5-foot-9, 211 pounds) has elite contact balance. In a column published on April 11, NFL.com's Bucky Brooks — a former scout — called it his superpower. 

"Jeanty's unique ability to pinball off defenders without losing speed/quickness is a testament to his ballerina-like footwork, balance and body control," wrote Brooks. "With the league's running back renaissance of late, the NFL world could quickly fall in love with the 2024 Doak Walker Award winner [as college football's best RB]."