Does the N.F.L. Have a Usain Bolt? Here Are the League’s Fastest Players
Jan. 4, 2018
It has been proven time and again that football is, as Vince Lombardi said, a game of inches. Teams win or lose based on the smallest of distances. A deep pass glances off a receiver’s fingertips. One or two links of a chain force a team to punt instead of keeping the ball.
But football is also a game of speed. And the measurement of that speed can help us understand why that deep pass wasn’t caught. Or why that running back was tackled two chain links short of the first down.
Thanks to computer chips inserted into N.F.L. players’ shoulder pads, we can measure and analyze the speed at which the game is played. The data, provided here by Sportradar, is used by teams to help make personnel decisions, scout opponents and even call plays. It also helps separate players who have “game speed” from those who merely run fast at the N.F.L. Combine.
“Combine speed is overrated,” said Tavon Austin, the Los Angeles Rams’ speedy receiver. “It might give you a good look to see what you can run in a straight line, but football’s not played in a straight line.”
offense
The Fastest From Scrimmage?
It’s Not Who You Think
At the 2017 combine, 53 players ran the 40-yard dash faster than Louisiana State’s Leonard Fournette (4.51 seconds). Ten running backs were faster, and wide receiver John Ross set the combine record at 4.22. But it’s Fournette, the 240-pound bruiser, who has actually clocked the N.F.L.’s fastest speed on offense this season, according to Sportradar.
Against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 5, Fournette, the Jacksonville Jaguars’ first-round pick, showed why game speed is more important than combine speed.
With the Steelers stacking the right side of the line of scrimmage, Fournette found a hole on the left side and broke through to the open field. From there, it was a foot race against Steelers safety Sean Davis (4.46 in the 40-yard dash), who was closing fast from the right side. But Fournette found an extra gear, reaching a top speed of 22.05 m.p.h. to pull away and score a 90-yard touchdown. (For comparison, Usain Bolt hit 27.8 m.p.h. when he broke the world record in the 100-meter dash at the 2009 world championships. He wasn’t wearing football gear, of course, or running on grass.)
Davis topped out at 21.06 m.p.h. in pursuit.
Fournette, who said he had never been caught from behind in the open field, believes combine time is not a fair indication of a player’s true speed.
“I was 240 and ran a 4.51,” Fournette said, referring to his weight. “There’s guys who ran 4.4s or whatever else and they’re getting caught from behind in a game. Football speed and track speed is a big difference, man.”
Other top speeds on offense: Todd Gurley, Rams (21.98 m.p.h.); Fournette, again (21.76); Marquise Goodwin, 49ers (21.68); and Tyreek Hill, Chiefs (21.64).
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