Today I wanted to visualize some great data from Kent Lee Platte’s Relative Athletic Scores (RAS) for safeties. Here is a link to Platte’s website in case you haven’t seen his work.
To qualify for a RAS score, a player must have a total of six recorded metrics from any of the following: Height, Weight, Forty-yard dash, Twenty-yard split, Ten-yard split, Bench Press, Vertical Jump, Broad Jump, Short Shuttle, and 3-Cone. The player is then graded on each in comparison to the positional database since 1987 to get more of a feel of their size, speed, explosion, agility, and total value, giving context to the raw numbers.
The goal of the series is to provide the RAS from Platte, and visualize it to get a simultaneous view of all the players at their position that participated at the combine. Here are the players that qualified for a RAS (NOTE: Positions are grouped from the scouting combine results tracker compiled by Dave Bryan and Alex Kozora):
Not the most athletic group in the 2024 draft class to say the least, with just four safeties having a plus-nine RAS, compared to seven in my 2023 safety RAS article.
Topping this years’ list is Utah’s Cole Bishop (9.88 RAS). He has elite speed, with great size and explosion, but no agility testing. 29 3/4” arms are less than desired. 9 1/2” hands.
Decamerion Richardson of Mississippi State (9.67 RAS) has elite speed, with good size and explosion, but no agility testing. 32 3/8” arms and 8 7/8” hands.
Washington State’s Jaden Hicks (9.29 RAS) has great size and speed, good explosion, and okay agility. 31 1/2” arms and 9 3/8” hands.
Dominique Hampton of Washington (9.2 RAS) has elite size, with good speed and explosion, but no agility testing. 33 1/4” arms and 10” hands.
Then, six players in the eight-plus RAS tier. Alabama’s Jaylen Key (8.88 RAS) has great explosion, with good size, speed, and agility. 32 1/4” arms and 9 5/8” hands.
Dadrion Taylor-Demerson of Texas Tech (8.76 RAS) has elite speed, great explosion, but poor size and no agility testing. 30 7/8” arms and 9 5/8” hands.
Missouri’s Jaylon Carlies (8.21 RAS) has elite size, good speed, okay explosion, but poor agility. Nice 34 1/4” arms and 10” hands.
Javon Bullard of Georgia (8.19 RAS) has elite speed, great agility, but poor size and didn’t qualify in explosion (33” vertical, no broad jump). 30 3/4” arms and 9” hands.
Oregon State’s Kitan Oladapo (8.16 RAS) has elite size, good speed, okay explosion, but no agility testing. 32 3/8” arms and 9 1/4” hands.
Evan Williams of Oregon (8.12 RAS) has elite explosion, good agility, with okay size and speed. 30 1/8” arms and 10 1/8” hands.
Four players land in the seven RAS range, starting with TCU’s Millard Bradford (7.93 RAS). He has elite speed, great explosion, but very poor size and no agility testing. 31 1/4” arms and 9” hands.
Sione Vaki of Utah (7.87 RAS) has elite explosion, good speed, with okay size and agility. Smaller 29 1/8” arms and 8 5/8” hands than many of his peers.
Auburn’s Jaylin Simpson (7.36 RAS) has elite explosion, great speed, but poor size and agility. 32 3/8” arms and 9 7/8” hands.
Tykee Smith of Georgia (7.34 RAS) has great speed, good explosion, okay agility, but poor size. 31 5/8” arms and 9 1/4” hands.
Three safeties in the six tier. Ohio State’s Josh Proctor (6.85 RAS) has good size and speed, okay agility, but poor explosion. 32” arms and 8 3/4” hands.
Daijahn Anthony of Ole Miss (6.58 RAS) has good speed, with okay size and explosion, but no agility testing. 32 1/2” arms and 9” hands.
USC’s Calen Bullock (6.31 RAS) has great speed, with okay size and explosion, but no agility testing. 32 1/2” arms and 9” hands.
One player in the five range, Andre Sam of LSU (5.73 RAS). He has good speed and explosion, but very poor size and didn’t qualify in agility (4.25 shuttle, no three cone). 30” arms, 9 1/4” hands.
The remaining four safeties have a RAS below five. Miami’s James Williams (4.62 RAS) has elite size, but poor speed, very poor explosion, and no agility testing. Nice 33 5/8” arms. 9 1/2” hands.
Tyler Nubin of Minnesota (3.64 RAS) has good size, okay speed, but poor explosion and agility. 32” arms and 9” hands.
California’s Patrick McMorris (3.58 RAS) has good size, okay agility, but very poor explosion and no speed testing. 31 7/8” arms, 9 3/4” hands.
The lowest RAS at safety is Kamren Kinchens of Miami (2.33 RAS). He has okay size, but poor speed, explosion, and no agility testing. 31 1/4” arms and 9 3/4” hands.
With many other needs for Pittsburgh, and the weaker talent and athleticism in the 2024 safety class overall, it would be wise to wait or punt on the position entirely.
