Colts News: 2024 NFL Draft: Colts and the significance of Relative Athletic Scores

[Colt4Life]

In the last two draft classes in particular, there has been a really strong connection between the Colts’ draft picks and their Relative Athletic Scores (RAS).But before we dive into that connection, let’s review was RAS is. RAS was created by Kent Lee Platte as a way to easily compare draft prospects within a position group based on their athletic testing numbers from the NFL Combine and/or their Pro Days.If two cornerbacks, for example, are different height and weights, with one running a faster 40 yard dash but the other performing better on the vertical and broad jumps–how do we know who the better overall athlete is?Well, that’s where RAS enters the conversation. This RAS formula takes all of those measurements and converts them into an easily comparable figure that ranges from 0 to 10. On the RAS scale, five is considered average, with 8.0 or higher being in the top 20 percentile of the position group from an athleticism standpoint. The higher the RAS, the better the athlete.This RAS scale does factor in historical results and is not only based on the current year’s draft class. It is also important to note that it is position-specific, so a guard and a cornerback can have the same RAS because it is relative to the position group.For more on RAS, click here.Now, let’s get back to the Colts and how all of this applies to them. Over the last two drafts, we’ve seen a very sharp increase in the average RAS of the prospects that Ballard has selected. From 2017 through 2021, the Colts draft picks had an average RAS of 7.8. Over the last two drafts, the average RAS has sky-rocketed to 9.56. In 2022, the lowest RAS a Colts’ draft pick had was 9.34. In 2023, of their 12 selections, nine scored above 9.0, with the lowest registering a RAS of 8.48. During this span, Ballard has put together two of the more athletic draft classes in football.So, with all of that in mind, below you will find the top athletes at each position group in this year’s draft who did enough of the testing to record a RAS. I used 9.0 as the line in the sand, given how the last two drafts have unfolded.

Source: https://coltswire.usatoday.com/lists/20 ... ic-scores/