The advent of advanced on-field player tracking data has changed how we interact with the game of football forever. It has allowed teams, coaches, scouts, media, and fans to access an understanding of just how athletic football players are as they're playing the game. And now, thanks to Zebra Technologies, we can measure the on-field athleticism of all the top defensive players at the Senior Bowl too.

Zebra Technologies has actually been an official partner with the Senior Bowl since 2018, and thus we have player tracking data dating back to that year, which gives us a large sample to assess the on-field athleticism of future NFL Draft prospects. Zebra provides data for speed, acceleration, deceleration, explosive efforts, throw velocity, throw spin rate, and more.

"But how can we take that information and convert it into something useful?"

By scaling and combining speed, acceleration, and deceleration data to create our own custom On-Field Athleticism Score for every player and position group. That allows us to create fairly straight forward on-field athleticism ranking with players possessing a score between 0 and 100.

2024 Senior Bowl Running Back Prospect Rankings after full week of practice

2024 Senior Bowl Running Back Prospect Rankings

Before we dive into the results from this year's Senior Bowl, it's important to note that these scores aren't a perfect representation of a player's overall athleticism. However, on average these measures do explain more than 30% of variance in both forty-yard dash times and agility scores at the NFL Combine, which is a fairly significant impact.

So, without further ado, here are the results that should tell us exactly who the most athletic defensive players at the 2024 Senior Bowl were when it comes to the On-Field Athleticism Score.

2024 Senior Bowl Wide Receiver Prospect Rankings after full week of practice

2024 Senior Bowl Wide Receiver Prospect Ranking

Defensive Line On-Field Athleticism Score

1. Marist Liufau, Notre Dame (really an off-ball LB) – 80.3
2. Cedric Johnson, Ole Miss – 71.1
3. Javon Solomon, Troy – 62.7
4. Austin Booker, Kansas – 61.5
5. Myles Cole, Texas Tech -61.3
6. Jalyx Hunt, HCU – 59.1
7. Jaylen Harrell, Michigan – 58.5
8. Marshawn Kneeland, WMU – 58.1
9. Braden Fiske, Florida State – 57.4
10. Eric Watts, UConn – 54.1

Marist Liufau did play about 150 snaps on the line this year, but he's an off-ball linebacker. Zebra just designated him as a DL. Cedric Johnson seems to be the most athletic true defensive lineman this year.

Linebackers On-Field Athleticism Score

1. JD Bertrand, Notre Dame – 67.4
2. Payton Wilson, NC State – 63.0
3. Cedric Gray, North Carolina – 59.2
4. James Williams, Miami (FL) – 51.1
5. Tyrice Knight, UTEP – 47.23
6. Edefuan Ulofoshio, Washington – 44.2
7. Nathaniel Watson, Mississippi State – 43.3
8. Trevin Wallace, Kentucky – 42.0
9. Jackson Sirmon, California – 42.0
10. Jontrey Hunter, Georgia State – 38.5

James Williams is really a safety, but it seems NFL teams wanted to see him stack up at a position more befitting of his potential role(s) and versatility.

Defensive Backs On-Field Athleticism Score

1. Sione Vaki, Utah – 73.5
2. Carlton Johnson, Fresno State – 64.5
3. Kalen King, Penn State – 55.4
4. Chau Smith-Wade, Washington State – 55.2
5. Max Melton, Rutgers – 53.4
6. DJ James, Aubuurn – 52.7
7. Kris Abrams-Draine, Missouri – 52.5
8. Javon Bullard, Georgia – 52.2
9. Cam Hart, Notre Dame – 51.9
10. Johnny Dixon, Penn State – 51.8

It's fitting that a safety who also played running back for a good portion of this past season is the most athletic one of the bunch. Sione Vaki is an elite athlete who should definitely make.a difference in the NFL for a long time.

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Be looking for more content like this all throughout NFL Draft season from the A to Z team. If you have any questions or comments feel free to reach out to me directly @FF_TravisM on X.