Running Back

Running back hand size will creep in from time to time, but really only if a player already has issues protecting the football. For instance, Derrick Henry's hand size was reported at 868, while Devontae Booker's was at 858. Both are low numbers (the average over the last five years is 928). I've studied 12 games of Henry over the last two years and have never seen him fumble. Conversely, I've watched eight games of Booker and have seen him put the ball on the ground five times. Henry protects the ball well despite his hand size, while Booker seems to have an issue with it. That could (potentially) be an issue for him moving forward.

What about the athletic testing for the running back group? Most evaluators would say it's more about the quickness than the pure speed, so the short shuttle and 3-cone drill carry a bit more weight for that position than the 40-yard dash.

3-Cone Drill (91 players tested)

90th Percentile: 6.78

80th Percentile: 6.83

50th Percentile: 6.99

20th Percentile: 7.15

10th Percentile: 7.24

91 running backs drafted in the last five years have a recorded pre-draft 3-cone drill time, and the average score was 6.99. Anything above a 6.83 puts you in the 80th percentile or above in that drill, while anything worse than a 7.15 puts you in the 20th percentile or below.

How did this year's runners do? Well, only 13 of 29 running backs at the Combine ran the 3-cone, presumably because it's such an important drill and they want to run it at their Pro Day in a more controlled environment. The best time came from junior Wendell Smallwood, who ran a 6.83 on the nose, which puts him right on the 80th percentile for backs drafted in the last five years; a good, not great, time. Four backs ran below that 7.15, however, including Henry and Cal's Daniel Lasco (who blew up the explosion drills including a 4.44 40-yard dash and a 135'' broad jump). Henry's time of 7.20 along with his 4.38 in the short shuttle puts him in dangerous territory. Only 11 running backs drafted in our five-year sample have run a worse 3-cone, which again tests a player's lateral agility and stop-start quickness. As you can guess, most of them have been bigger backs. Andre Williams in 2014 (7.27), DeMarco Murray in 2011 (7.28), and Eddie Lacy in 2013 (7.33) all had bad times in the drill. All of those players have had different levels of success throughout their careers, but when it comes to lateral agility, that's not their forte.

Wide Receiver

Offensively, no position asks for more overall athletic ability than the wide receiver spot. Wideouts need to be able to have at least a serviceable combination of speed, quickness, burst, change of direction, and leaping ability in order to be an effective NFL player. Some may only have a couple of those traits, and it will be up to teams to figure out how to best leverage those qualities, but ideally you want players that have a good athletic profile. What does that look like? Let's take a look, again looking at the last five-year sample size.

40-yard dash (109 receivers tested)

90th Percentile: 4.34

80th Percentile: 4.40

50th Percentile: 4.45

20th Percentile: 4.53

10th Percentile: 4.57

3-cone drill (137 receivers tested)

90th Percentile: 6.66

80th Percentile: 6.70

50th Percentile: 6.91

20th Percentile: 7.07

10th Percentile: 7.11

Broad Jump (146 receivers tested)

90th Percentile: 130''

80th Percentile: 126''

50th Percentile: 122''

20th Percentile: 118''

10th Percentile: 116''

Going off of those numbers above, here are the players that stood out most in either a negative or positive way.

TCU's Josh Doctson missed the Senior Bowl due to a wrist injury, but made up for it with a very impressive workout on Saturday. At 6'2, 202 pounds, Doctson ran a 4.50 in the 40-yard dash, a 6.84 in the 3-cone, and jumped 131''. When you take his size into account, that's a very impressive performance.

Some of the most disappointing numbers came from some of my own personal favorite receivers. Tyler Boyd from Pitt ran a very slow 4.59 to go with a below average 6.90 3-cone and 119'' broad jump. Colorado State's Rashard Higgins' 4.64 in the 40 was one of the most surprising times of the weekend, and he followed it up with a 116 on the broad jump. Aaron Burbridge's times of 4.58 and 7.22 along with just 115'' put the former Michigan State Spartan in a lonely spot in terms of athletic profile at the receiver spot. Even worse so, Mississippi State's De'Runnya Wilson turned in an all-time poor athletic performance. Wilson tested 'in the red' in every major athletic test (he didn't run the shuttles), running a 4.85 in the 40-yard dash to go with a 113'' in the broad jump. How bad is the 4.85? The slowest time for a receiver drafted in the last five years was 4.67 (Vince Mayle), and only eight tight ends drafted in that span have run worse times.