NFL Combine winners among Running Backs and the top Athletic Composite Scores
Following along with the NFL Combine is always a lot of fun. There's all the spicy comments from podiums, the weigh-ins and measurements that can sometimes surprise, and of course the forty-yard dashes in spandex that everyone loves. But when the dust settles at the end of each day, how can we really tell who […]
Following along with the NFL Combine is always a lot of fun. There's all the spicy comments from podiums, the weigh-ins and measurements that can sometimes surprise, and of course the forty-yard dashes in spandex that everyone loves. But when the dust settles at the end of each day, how can we really tell who "won" and helped their draft stock?
The best way? Create a custom Athletic Composite score that pulls together 20+ years of historical NFL Combine data, analyzes the results of this group of incoming prospects, and assigns a singular percentile score for a player's athleticism.
Or at least that's what we did here at A to Z Sports. As you can see in my post below, here were the top performances among running backs at the NFL Combine today according to the A to Z Sports Athletic Composite.
Isaac Guerendo, Louisville
It's not too often that a projected undrafted free agent shows up to the NFL Combine and posts the highest athletic testing numbers, but this year was an exception. Isaac Guerendo put up a higher Speed Score than Saquon Barkley by running a 4.33-second forty-yard dash at 221 pounds. Then he followed that up by leaping 41.5 inches in the vertical and nearly 11 feet in the broad jump. Absurd explosiveness.
Guerendo spent most of his career at Wisconsin, but got stuck playing behind Jonathan Taylor and Braelon Allen. Once he transferred to Louisville he was finally given his first 150-touch season and he did not disappoint. When you mix his final season marks of nearly seven yards per touch with his size and athleticism you get a player who will likely actually get drafted now.
Early Round Top Tier Athletes
Jaylen Wright (Tennessee), Trey Benson (Florida State), and MarShawn Lloyd (USC) have all be in the early to mid-round conversation for months. After their strong showings at the NFL Combine we could see them all come off the board somewhere on day two of the 2024 NFL Draft.
Jaylen Wright logged the fastest forty time of the bunch at 4.38 seconds, good for 94th percentile since the year 2000. He also posted the best Burst Score (98th percentile) after jumping 38" in the vertical and 11'2" in the broad jump. He may have been the biggest winner of the entire event among early round projections.
Trey Benson and MarShawn Lloyd both weighed in heavier than Wright, so their times weren't expected to be quite as strong. However, when you adjust for weight neither were that far off of Wright's impressive outing. Both Benson and Lloyd have recovered from significant injury in the past couple years too, so that makes their testing numbers even more impressive. Benson posted a 95th percentile Speed Score. Lloyd, 88th percentile. Both were above average in their jumps as well.
All three of these running backs have some of the highest efficiency numbers in the class to pair with top tier athleticism, so look for all of them to hear their names called early now.
Best of the Rest
Kimani Vidal put up one of the best NFL Combine performances ever among non-power conference running backs. He tested well above average in every single on-field test despite being one of the thicker running backs out there with a 93rd percentile BMI.
Tyrone Tracy (Purdue), Blake Corum (Michigan), and Dylan Laube (New Hampshire) all tested out above the 92nd percentile in their Agility Scores, which makes all kind of sense. Tracy's elusiveness stats were crazy high at Purdue. Corum's ability to wiggle in for scores in the red zone was unmatched at Michigan. And Laube led his team in rushing, receiving, punt return, and kick return yards where his agility was on full display weekly.
Corum is still fully expected to be a late day two pick. Tracy and Laube might be selected much earlier on day three of the NFL Draft now that they've proven to have top tier traits.
Keilan Robinson (Texas), George Holani (Boise State), and Isaiah Davis) were all at least above average in terms of their overall Athletic Composite Scores. None of them were huge winners at the NFL Combine, but mostly cleared requisite testing thresholds. All of them look to have solidified their late day three pick status.
If you want to follow along for more detailed NFL and College Football coverage follow me @FF_TravisM on X and feel free to share any questions you may have there.
