Prior to Thursday’s first round of the 2017 NFL Draft, ESPN Sport Science and host John Brenkus analyzed some of the top prospects. The players not only went through workouts in studio to provide metrics, but also wore cameras on their helmets to provide more content featuring 360-degree video.
Miami (Fla.) tight end David Njoku, who was drafted by the Cleveland Browns with the No. 29 selection, participated in the ESPN series and can be seen below running through the standard tight end gauntlet.
ESPN captured Njoku catching a pass and running down the field as he donned a helmet cam, nearly eclipsing 15 mph in the process before clearing a 5-foot high bar at a record 6’ 4” for the Sport Science Lab. Brenkus then decided to position himself under the bar to catch a glimpse for himself. After crunching the numbers and analyzing Njoku’s performance, Sport Science said he had the potential of Seattle Seahawks tight end Jimmy Graham.
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In the days leading up to to the draft, Sport Science also looked at top wide receivers in Clemson’s Mike Williams and Washington’s John Ross, both of whom were drafted in the first round. Williams headed to the San Diego Chargers (No. 7) and Ross was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals (No. 9).
At February’s NFL Draft Combine, Ross broke the 40-yard dash record at 4.22 seconds, so Brenkus and his staff decided to run the speedster through the Lab’s 20-yard acceleration test. His first 10 yards took him just 1.53 seconds, the fastest time for any offensive player the Lab had analyzed in the past four drafts.
Sport Science examined the numbers even further and discovered that at peak velocity, Ross’ foot is on the ground for just 0.077 seconds. Who does that compare to? Only the fastest person on earth in Usain Bolt.
Similar to Njoku, Sport Science captured Williams and Ross from a first-person perspective as they participated in the 20-yard acceleration test, dodged moving bags after catching a pass and hurdled the high bar.
While Sport Science compared Ross to Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ DeSean Jackson, it said that Williams — who caught one-handed passes with over 90 percent of just his fingertips — is on par with A.J. Green of the Cincinnati Bengals.