Pinpointing the 2022 NFL draft prospects who fit the athletic criteria of Joe Douglas and the New York Jets
Over the past couple of days, I have spent plenty of time breaking down the drafting tendencies of New York Jets general manager Joe Douglas in terms of how much he tends to value prospects’ athletic profiles. I first broke down Douglas’ most notable trends before identifying 2022 draft prospects that might be avoided by Douglas based on those trends.
Today we’ll look at the other side of the coin. Which 2022 draft prospects should we expect Douglas to favor based on his previous drafting tendencies?
Here’s the most notable athleticism-based tendency that Douglas showcased between the 2020 and 2021 drafts: his propensity for drafting prospects with a Relative Athletic Score (RAS)* above 9.0.
Douglas selected seven players with a RAS of 9.0-plus from 2020 to 2021, tied with Denver and Washington for the most of any team over that span.
*RAS is a 0-to-10 rating that takes into account a player’s performance in various testing drills relative to their height, weight, and position.
What does it mean when a player has a RAS of 9.0? Well, a player’s RAS correlates closely with their percentile ranking among all players at their position in the history of athletic testing data, so a RAS of 9.0 means the player owns better testing numbers than about 90% of players at their position. A RAS of 9.5 places them around the 95th percentile, and so on.
The bottom line is that any player with a RAS above 9.0 is a truly incredible athlete. Joe Douglas and the New York Jets have strongly favored players with such a high level of athleticism, so any prospect who hits this benchmark is worth monitoring as a potential Jets target.
Let’s go position-by-position and identify the 2022 draft prospects who registered a RAS of 9.0 or better.
Cornerback (16 players)
Throughout this article, each prospect will be listed alongside their current overall ranking among all prospects on the consensus big board at NFL Mock Draft Database (as of April 13, 2022), which is calculated through the combination of 63 big boards from draft analysts around the internet. This gives us an approximate idea of where in the draft each prospect could realistically be targeted.
Beneath each list, I will also note if there are any highly-regarded prospects who did not qualify for a Relative Athletic Score due to their insufficient number of completed drills during the lead-up to the draft.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at all of the prospects who registered a 9.0-plus RAS. We begin with the cornerback position.
Name | Pos | College | RAS | Big Board Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|
Zyon McCollum | CB | Sam Houston State | 10 | 120 |
Tony Adams | CB | Illinois | 9.75 | 516 |
Tariq Castro-Fields | CB | Penn State | 9.74 | 139 |
Damarri Mathis | CB | Pittsburgh | 9.72 | 160 |
Tariq Woolen | CB | UTSA | 9.71 | 72 |
Kyler Gordon | CB | Washington | 9.69 | 40 |
Akayleb Evans | CB | Missouri | 9.56 | 130 |
Josh Thompson | CB | Texas | 9.55 | 251 |
Dallis Flowers | CB | Pittsburg State | 9.53 | 266 |
Trent McDuffie | CB | Washington | 9.49 | 21 |
Joshua Williams | CB | Fayetteville State | 9.44 | 155 |
Sam Webb | CB | Missouri Western | 9.41 | 363 |
Jaylen Watson | CB | Washington State | 9.2 | 187 |
Darrell Baker | CB | Georgia Southern | 9.11 | 523 |
Christian Holmes | CB | Oklahoma State | 9.1 | 542 |
Alontae Taylor | CB | Tennessee | 9.07 | 109 |
Notable prospects who did not complete enough testing to qualify for RAS: Ahmad Gardner (#4), Andrew Booth (#24)
Defensive end (17 players)
Name | Pos | College | RAS | Big Board Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|
Travon Walker | DE | Georgia | 9.99 | 5 |
Boye Mafe | DE | Minnesota | 9.92 | 33 |
Aidan Hutchinson | DE | Michigan | 9.88 | 1 |
Jeffrey Gunter | DE | Coastal Carolina | 9.75 | 191 |
Dominique Robinson | DE | Miami OH | 9.74 | 131 |
Sam Williams | DE | Mississippi | 9.72 | 93 |
Josh Paschal | DE | Kentucky | 9.7 | 99 |
Kayvon Thibodeaux | DE | Oregon | 9.63 | 2 |
David Ojabo | DE | Michigan | 9.4 | 32 |
Nik Bonitto | DE | Oklahoma | 9.37 | 61 |
Jermaine Johnson | DE | Florida State | 9.23 | 12 |
George Karlaftis | DE | Purdue | 9.21 | 19 |
Amare Barno | DE | Virginia Tech | 9.18 | 172 |
Isaiah Thomas | DE | Oklahoma | 9.15 | 155 |
Arnold Ebiketie | DE | Penn State | 9.14 | 42 |
Scott Patchan | DE | Colorado State | 9.12 | 519 |
DeAngelo Malone | DE | Western Kentucky | 9.04 | 128 |
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Defensive tackle (11 players)
Name | Pos | College | RAS | Big Board Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|
Jordan Davis | DT | Georgia | 10 | 14 |
Thomas Booker | DT | Stanford | 9.88 | 175 |
Devonte Wyatt | DT | Georgia | 9.59 | 25 |
Curtis Brooks | DT | Cincinnati | 9.52 | 437 |
Travis Jones | DT | Connecticut | 9.4 | 43 |
Logan Hall | DT | Houston | 9.39 | 40 |
Ben Stille | DT | Nebraska | 9.34 | 585 |
Matt Henningsen | DT | Wisconsin | 9.33 | 269 |
Eric Johnson II | DT | Missouri State | 9.16 | 215 |
Jordan Jackson | DT | Air Force | 9.14 | 503 |
Mika Tafua | DT | Utah | 9.03 | 470 |
Notable prospects who did not complete enough testing to qualify for RAS: Perrion Winfrey (#50)
Fullback (3 players)
Name | Pos | College | RAS | Big Board Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|
Garrett Owens | FB | Duquesne | 9.58 | Unranked |
Clint Ratkovicth | FB | Northern Illinois | 9.39 | 528 |
John Chenal | FB | Wisconsin | 9.34 | Unranked |
Linebacker (20 players)
Name | Pos | College | RAS | Big Board Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|
Troy Andersen | LB | Montana State | 10 | 76 |
Leo Chenal | LB | Wisconsin | 9.99 | 62 |
Brandon Smith | LB | Penn State | 9.97 | 94 |
Damone Clark | LB | Louisiana State | 9.87 | 100 |
Chad Muma | LB | Wyoming | 9.77 | 65 |
Chance Campbell | LB | Mississippi | 9.69 | 270 |
Channing Tindall | LB | Georgia | 9.68 | 87 |
Quay Walker | LB | Georgia | 9.63 | 48 |
Darrian Beavers | LB | Cincinnati | 9.6 | 107 |
Devin Lloyd | LB | Utah | 9.59 | 20 |
Devin Harper | LB | Oklahoma State | 9.51 | 422 |
Jake Hummel | LB | Iowa State | 9.47 | 456 |
Micah McFadden | LB | Indiana | 9.46 | 250 |
Cameron Goode | LB | California | 9.46 | 343 |
Adam Anderson | LB | Georgia | 9.37 | 276 |
Malcolm Rodriguez | LB | Oklahoma State | 9.27 | 209 |
Jeremiah Moon | LB | Florida | 9.21 | 297 |
Baylon Spector | LB | Clemson | 9.13 | 333 |
Mike Rose | LB | Iowa State | 9.07 | 206 |
Christian Harris | LB | Alabama | 9.06 | 51 |
Notable prospects who did not complete enough testing to qualify for RAS: Nakobe Dean (#26)
Interior offensive line (10 players)
Name | Pos | College | RAS | Big Board Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|
Cole Strange | OG | Chattanooga | 9.95 | 86 |
Cameron Jurgens | OC | Nebraska | 9.94 | 118 |
Blaise Andries | OG | Minnesota | 9.81 | 444 |
Zion Johnson | OG | Boston College | 9.74 | 28 |
Dawson Deaton | OC | Texas Tech | 9.7 | 245 |
Luke Wattenberg | OC | Washington | 9.59 | 288 |
Jack Snyder | OG | San Jose State | 9.5 | 389 |
Jason Poe | OG | Mercer | 9.46 | 492 |
Chris Paul | OG | Tulsa | 9.45 | 170 |
Notable prospects who did not complete enough testing to qualify for RAS: Tyler Linderbaum (#23)
Offensive tackle (8 players)
Name | Pos | College | RAS | Big Board Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|
Trevor Penning | OT | Northern Iowa | 9.96 | 18 |
Matt Waletzko | OT | North Dakota | 9.95 | 183 |
Bernhard Raimann | OT | Central Michigan | 9.87 | 39 |
Nick Zakelj | OT | Fordham | 9.83 | 234 |
Kellen Diesch | OT | Arizona State | 9.75 | 119 |
Abraham Lucas | OT | Washington State | 9.73 | 84 |
Zach Tom | OT | Wake Forest | 9.59 | 143 |
Ryan Van Demark | OT | Connecticut | 9.45 | 334 |
Devin Cochran | OT | Georgia Tech | 9.17 | 281 |
Notable prospects who did not complete enough testing to qualify for RAS: Evan Neal (#3)
Quarterback (3 players)
Obviously, I doubt the Jets will target a quarterback in this year’s draft, but I figured this info was worth including anyway. Perhaps one of these names could generate enough interest to prompt a team into trading up for one of the Jets’ picks.
Name | Pos | College | RAS | Big Board Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|
Desmond Ridder | QB | Cincinnati | 9.62 | 37 |
Kenny Pickett | QB | Pittsburgh | 9.55 | 16 |
EJ Perry IV | QB | Brown | 9.43 | 213 |
Notable prospects who did not complete enough testing to qualify for RAS: Malik Willis (#11), Matt Corral (#35)
Running back (9 players)
Name | Pos | College | RAS | Big Board Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|
Breece Hall | RB | Iowa State | 9.96 | 36 |
Rachaad White | RB | Arizona State | 9.88 | 105 |
Master Teague III | RB | Ohio State | 9.84 | 319 |
Zander Horvath | RB | Purdue | 9.83 | 367 |
Zamir White | RB | Georgia | 9.82 | 120 |
Bryant Koback | RB | Toledo | 9.72 | 411 |
Tyler Goodson | RB | Iowa | 9.54 | 193 |
Pierre Strong Jr. | RB | South Dakota State | 9.34 | 142 |
Kenneth Walker III | RB | Michigan State | 9.26 | 46 |
Safety (14 players)
Name | Pos | College | RAS | Big Board Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|
Lewis Cine | FS | Georgia | 9.92 | 34 |
Nick Cross | FS | Maryland | 9.87 | 109 |
Scott Nelson | SS | Wisconsin | 9.67 | 504 |
Joey Blount | FS | Virginia | 9.62 | 231 |
Isaac Taylor-Stuart | FS | Southern California | 9.61 | 291 |
Tycen Anderson | FS | Toledo | 9.49 | 161 |
JT Woods | SS | Baylor | 9.43 | 165 |
Dane Belton | SS | Iowa | 9.42 | 230 |
Kyle Hamilton | FS | Notre Dame | 9.33 | 7 |
Jack Koerner | SS | Iowa | 9.19 | 459 |
Jaquan Brisker | SS | Penn State | 9.14 | 52 |
Drew Hartlaub | FS | Penn State | 9.09 | 495 |
Daxton Hill | FS | Michigan | 9.06 | 31 |
Marcelino McCrary-Ball | SS | Indiana | 9.03 | 421 |
Tight end (6 players)
Name | Pos | College | RAS | Big Board Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|
Jelani Woods | TE | Virginia | 10 | 106 |
Daniel Bellinger | TE | San Diego State | 9.65 | 174 |
Andrew Ogletree | TE | Youngstown State | 9.35 | 369 |
Charlie Kolar | TE | Iowa State | 9.12 | 137 |
Armani Rogers | TE | Ohio | 9.1 | 350 |
Lucas Krull | TE | Pittsburgh | 9.06 | 219 |
Wide receiver (11 players)
Name | Pos | College | RAS | Big Board Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|
Christian Watson | WR | North Dakota State | 9.96 | 49 |
Kevin Austin | WR | Notre Dame | 9.94 | 212 |
Alec Pierce | WR | Cincinnati | 9.82 | 75 |
Brenden Schooler | WR | Texas | 9.79 | 501 |
Isaiah Weston | WR | Northern Iowa | 9.62 | 232 |
Tyshaun James | WR | Central Connecticut State | 9.54 | 414 |
George Pickens | WR | Georgia | 9.37 | 54 |
Bo Melton | WR | Rutgers | 9.24 | 156 |
Jalen Virgil | WR | Appalachian State | 9.16 | 591 |
Calvin Austin III | WR | Memphis | 9.08 | 74 |
Jaquarii Roberson | WR | Wake Forest | 9.01 | 347 |
Notable prospects who did not complete enough testing to qualify for RAS: Drake London (#13), Jameson Williams (#15)
Based on what we saw from Joe Douglas and the New York scouting staff over the last two years, I would expect the Jets to draft at least three or four of the players listed in this article.
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Great article. This article is exactly the reason why I joined X-Factor.
Thanks for reading and glad to have you aboard!
Thanks, Michael. This is awesome and more than a little eye-opening. There are some top prospects who either didn’t do enough testing to qualify or who aren’t listed at all. Among the players not listed who I have seen frequently mocked to the Jets or who are excellent scheme fits are: Ekwonu, Kair Elam, Myjai Sanders, Cam Thomas, Kingsley Enagbare, (Arnold Ebiketie’s numbers were surprisingly low), Phidarian Mathis, DeMarvin Leal, Dylan Parham, Kenyon Green, Charles Cross, James Cook, Jerome Ford, Dameon Pierce, Tyler Badie, (surprised that Daquan Brisker’s and Daxton Hill’s scores were so low), Jeremy Ruckert, Greg Dulcich, Isaiah Likely, Cade Otton, Garret Wilson, Chris Olave, and (surprised that Jahan Dotson’s, Skyy Moore’s, John Metechie’s and Calvin Austin’s scores were too low).
The two Ohio State WRs having less-than-elite RAS scores is definitely interesting. I wonder if it pushes them towards Jameson Williams despite the injury, who almost certainly would have tested really well (at least in the 40). It also might push them away from London, as I’d probably guess he’d do good-not-great in athletic testing. And the fact that he *didn’t* test despite being a guy whose speed/explosiveness/quickness is in question definitely hurts his stock a bit, I would think. Just because of the uncertainty.