Eagles boast the most athletic rookie class from the 2020 NFL Draft

[Procus]

https://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2020/5/3/21245824/eagles-boast-most-athletic-rookie-class-2020-nfl-draft-philadelphia-jalen-hurts-reagor-speed-wallace

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Eagles boast the most athletic rookie class from the 2020 NFL Draft

 

Will this emphasis pay off?

By Brandon Lee Gowton@BrandonGowton  May 3, 2020, 9:06pm

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Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images

The Philadelphia Eagles didn’t just add a lot of speed to their roster through the 2020 NFL Draft. They acquired some of the best all around athletes from this year’s class.

According to NFL Next Gen Stats, the Eagles actually boast THE most athletic rookie crop.

Next Gen Stats

 

✔@NextGenStats

 

 

Final Top 5 Draft Classes by Average Athleticism Score

1. #Eagles 84
2. #Redskins 84
3. #Jets 81
4. #Steelers 81
5. #Patriots 81

These teams prioritized athleticism throughout the 2020 #NFLDraft

 

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This sentiment is further illustrated by Kent Lee Platte’s relative athletic score system:

Kent Lee Platte@MathBomb

 

 

Taking a look at the #RAS of the #Eagles 2020 draft class.

Their class averaged a RAS of 8.37.

They had 6 players score in elite range, over 8.00.
They had 0 players score below 5.00.
The rest fell inbetween.

 

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So, what does it all mean?

On the positive side, the Eagles are drafting players with raw tools that they can hope to mold. They’re not eschewing athleticism and overvaluing production too much like they did in 2017 when they literally had the league’s least athletic draft class by RAS.

The Eagles kicked off their draft with Derek Barnett, one of the two sub 5.00 players who was drafted in the first round. Sidney Jones rated below average for RAS even prior to suffering an achilles injury that will likely redshirt him for 2017. It wasn’t until the 6th round that the Eagles truly took an impressive athlete, though 3rd rounder Rasul Douglas measured better than expected for his size.

Clearly not the best draft class in Eagles history.

2017 was notably Joe Douglas’s first draft in charge of setting Philly’s draft board. But Douglas also held the same responsibility in 2018 and 2019 when the Eagles ended up course-correcting on the athleticism front. The Eagles’ rookie class finished 11th in RAS last year:

Having had the most athletic offensive line in the NFL for the better part of a decade, is it really surprising the Eagles took a top athlete at tackle early? Aside from the 2017 class, where the Eagles took risks with almost every selection, ranking near the bottom for RAS, the Eagles are generally right around this range or higher.

You also may have noticed at the top that Douglas’s New York Jets finished third in average athleticism score this year. But I digress.

I’m of the mind that betting on elite athletic profiles is generally a good thing to do. But that’s not to say it’s the only quality that matters. There are plenty of players who test well but aren’t actually, you know, good at football.

Brian Baldinger recently raised the concern that the Eagles put too much emphasis on acquiring athletes through this year’s draft. Via the Inquirer’s Paul Domowitch:

"There’s such a thing as functional speed. Everybody wants to get faster. But if you’re not able to get on the field, if you’re not productive, what’s the point in being fast? Anybody can collect fast guys. They’re everywhere. But that doesn’t mean they’re good football players or can make plays.”

Baldy specifically ripped the Davion Taylor pick as an example of valuing athleticism over skill.

"I don’t understand this pick at all. This is just a pure analytics pick. If you watched Colorado play last year, you can’t find the guy. First of all, they played that silly, soft defense with the three-man fronts that everybody in the Pac-12 plays. So he wasn’t in the box. He’s not an in-the-box linebacker. He’s out there on the perimeter against slot receivers and he’s just running to the ball.” [...] "He’s hardly played. Didn’t play in high school. Played just two years of Division I ball. He has no instincts for the game. That’s why I say it was completely driven by analytics. So he’s fast. So what? The mistake they’re making is it’s not going to make you faster if you’re not on the field.”

I think BGN’s Jonny Page said it well when he wrote about how the Eagles’ coaching staff has their work cut out for them with this year’s draft class. Howie Roseman is really hoping that the Eagles’ coaches can maximize the athletes they’ve been given.

We’ll just have to see if the Eagles’ emphasis pays off.

 

[Lemonphosphate]

That Kent Lee Platte test gave Reagor a worse athletic grade then JJ Whiteside...snicker.  Whiteside ran a 4.49 40 yard dash as a bigger WR.  LSU WR Justin Jefferson ran a 4.43 and Jalen Reagor ran a 4.47.  So you base your athletic values mainly from a 40 yard dash in shorts at the combine and their size plays a big part I guess.  Whiteside and Jefferson can't separate on the outside.  That's a fact shown on film. They are both contested catch specialists with the ability to go up and get it in a crowd.  Jefferson lined up mostly in slot and got most of his receptions against no coverage in a zone and when he was outside most of receptions show him skying up to grab it playing above the rim in yes a contested situation.   Both of those WR's have never shown the ability to run in the 4.40's on game film.  Not once.  When Jefferson ran a 4.43 it was a shock to everyone.

  Now lets take Jalen Reagor.  He claims to have gotten too heavy when he ran the 40 at the combine and those that had seen him play were surprised at his 4.47.  He then ran a pro day 40 on tape and claimed to have run a 4.22.  It's possible but I doubt it a bit but I can say from game film that he's truly explosive and I kept saying to myself that he runs with juice.  Which is something I never say.  At no point in any of his game tapes does he run in the 4.4's it's all in the 4.30 to 4.39 range.  He's just explosive and he's not just a long speed guy like Watkins who we drafted later but is explosive in and out of breaks like Jeudy is.  In other wards he's an elite athlete and that Kent Lee Platte system is a little poopy and not based on what happens in the games.

[Asg 15]

7 minutes ago, Lemonphosphate said:

That Kent Lee Platte test gave Reagor a worse athletic grade then JJ Whiteside...snicker.  Whiteside ran a 4.49 40 yard dash as a bigger WR.  LSU WR Justin Jefferson ran a 4.43 and Jalen Reagor ran a 4.47.  So you base your athletic values mainly from a 40 yard dash in shorts at the combine and their size plays a big part I guess.  Whiteside and Jefferson can't separate on the outside.  That's a fact shown on film. They are both contested catch specialists with the ability to go up and get it in a crowd.  Jefferson lined up mostly in slot and got most of his receptions against no coverage in a zone and when he was outside most of receptions show him skying up to grab it playing above the rim in yes a contested situation.   Both of those WR's have never shown the ability to run in the 4.40's on game film.  Not once.  When Jefferson ran a 4.43 it was a shock to everyone.

  Now lets take Jalen Reagor.  He claims to have gotten too heavy when he ran the 40 at the combine and those that had seen him play were surprised at his 4.47.  He then ran a pro day 40 on tape and claimed to have run a 4.22.  It's possible but I doubt it a bit but I can say from game film that he's truly explosive and I kept saying to myself that he runs with juice.  Which is something I never say.  At no point in any of his game tapes does he run in the 4.4's it's all in the 4.30 to 4.39 range.  He's just explosive and he's not just a long speed guy like Watkins who we drafted later but is explosive in and out of breaks like Jeudy is.  In other wards he's an elite athlete and that Kent Lee Platte system is a little poopy and not based on what happens in the games.

I'll reserve my opinion on this until we see if the receivers can catch the damn ball.

[Lemonphosphate]

Catching the ball is a different matter entirely.