top 10 sparq scores from combine/Kirwan explosion

[poplarbluffman]

final sparq scores over 130..note evidently the flu bug was going around at the combine and some players might see a big jump after they retest at their pro day

Jalen Ramsey CB Florida St 142.8
Daniel Lasco RB California 140.7
Darron Lee LB 140.1
Vernon Hargreaves CB Florida 137.2
Travis Feeney LB 136.7
Justin Simmons S Boston College 134.9
Dan Vitale FB Northwestern 134.7
Sean Davis S Maryland 134.6
Josh Doctson WR TCU 133.9
Derrick Henry RB Alabama 132.7
Ricardo Louis WR Auburn 132.7
Tyler Ervin RB San Jose St 132.2
Emmanuel Ogbah 131.8
Connor Wujciak DT Boston College 131.8
Shaq Lawson 130.5
Robert Nkemdiche DT Miss 130.5
Bosa 125.6

more players will be added after they retest at their pro days Spence and Josh Forrest have improved their combine 40 times at their pro day

Kirwan used broad jump, vertical and bench to test explosion..anything over 70 elite
some scores
McGovern G Mizzou 75
Lasco RB 75
Matt Judon DT 74
Zettel DE 74
BJ Goodson ILB 74
Hargrave DT 73
Nkemdiche 72
Rankins DT 71
Spriggs OT 71
Shepard WR 71
Lowry DE 71
Derrick Henry RB 70
Noah Spence 70
loannidis DT 69
Dahl OT/G 69
Billings DT 68
Killebrew SS 68
DJ Reeder DT 67.5
Ervin RB 67
Bosa 66
Jalen Ramsey 66
Doctson 66

[RamFanFor55]

sparq scores over 130..Zach Whitman still hasn't done lbers, te or de yet

Jalen Ramsey CB Florida St 142.8
Daniel Lasco RB California 140.7
Vernon Hargreaves CB Florida 137.2
Justin Simmons S Boston College 134.9
Dan Vitale FB Northwestern 134.7
Sean Davis S Maryland 134.6
Josh Doctson WR TCU 133.9
Derrick Henry RB Alabama 132.7
Ricardo Louis WR Auburn 132.7
Tyler Ervin RB UCLA 132.2
Connor Wujciak DT Boston College 131.8
Robert Nkemdiche DT Miss 130.5

Kirwan used broad jump, vertical and bench to test explosion..anything over 70 elite. Some scores
McGovern G Mizzou 75
Lasco RB 75
Matt Judon DT 74
Zettel DE 74
Hargrave DT 73
Nkemdiche 72
Rankins DT 71
Spriggs OT 71
Shepard WR 71
Lowry DE 71
Derrick Henry RB 70
Noah Spence 70
loannidis DT 69
Dahl OT/G 69
Billings DT 68
Killebrew SS 68
DJ Reeder DT 67.5
Ervin RB 67
Bosa 66
Jalen Ramsey 66
Doctson 66

Gotta say, I would LOVE to see stats like these two years down the road. A whole bunch of unknowns--especially below Div I guys--will often blow the Combine up. How do they do, if they get a chance in the NFL?

From this list, Ramsey is clearly a 'lights-out' stud. Who gets him, and where does he play? He's looking like a top 5 pick, but where? Safety, sure. But big CB? Or add 10-12 lbs and he's a hybrid like Barron.

E.g., on the "Expolsive Scale," three guys (Bosa, Ramsey, Doctson) will go in the top 50. While some linemen blew them away (McGovern, Judson) may drop quite a bit.

And who's the Boston College DT who stood out on the sparq? On anybody's board?

[RamFanFor55]

Okay, as a stat freak for fun I went and looked at Aaron Donald's combine, and compared it with Wujciak's.

Donald: 6'0 3/4 285 4.68 40 35 reps 7.11 cones 9'8" bj 32 vert
Wujciak 6'2" 291 4.91 40 22 reps 7.32 cones 9'9" bj 34.5 vert

So Wuj would probably rater higher on "explosion," but Donald is clearly faster/quicker and stronger. VERY small sample, but given what Donald has done, I'd say look at strength and quick, vs. "explosion." Donald isn't trying to "explode" OGs, he's quicking/shoving past them.

Just a thought.

[poplarbluffman]

Wujciak had a 65 vs Donald 76 explosion number... Donald had elite speed, explosion score, sparq score (136) and production 66 career tfl

rarely ever find that kind of athleticism/production in college...

I have the last 3 years of sparq scores and nfldraftscout gives us an easy way to go back years and look at old explosion scores..
Greg Robinson had a sparq of 117 69 1/2 explosion but awful short times(lacked flexibility) which was why I projected him to RT or guard

fun to play with numbers...especially from a historical prospective

[poplarbluffman]

updated my list with te, lb and de numbers

[RamFanFor55]

Wujciak had a 65 vs Donald 76 explosion number... Donald had elite speed, explosion score, sparq score (136) and production 66 career tfl

rarely ever find that kind of athleticism/production in college...

I have the last 3 years of sparq scores and nfldraftscout gives us an easy way to go back years and look at old explosion scores..
Greg Robinson had a sparq of 117 69 1/2 explosion but awful short times(lacked flexibility) which was why I projected him to RT or guard

fun to play with numbers...especially from a historical prospective

As a former (?) quant nerd--actually taught a term of stats online to grad students--I really enjoy getting into the weeds with numbers. And the whole "historical perspective" thing is what it's all about. If you can spot a trend (correlation), say between sparq and later success, for a particular position, for instance, then you can go all Billy Ball with the draft.

Gut instinct is good. Quality of opposition (esp. one-on-one, OT vs. DE, for instance) is good. Interviews can be good (though a guy like Clowney can lie his pants off about his work ethic and front office guys follow their foolish 'guts' rather than heads).

But I still like numbers. Which is why they keep doing the Combine.

[poplarbluffman]

agree...lot to look at...like you said looking for historical trends is the key
nfldraftscout has the top 40's, lifts, 3 cone, ect...what you quickly see is zero correlation to future success
when you look at historical sparq scores and you quickly see the huge failure rate of the bottom 1/3

short times matter for olinemen but not for wr's...arm length/hand punch is huge for all players
10 yard splits help when evaluating edge rushers because they run a fast arc to the qb BUT players with a strong hand punch/upper body strength run smaller arc to the qb. Love Kirwan's explosion number and how it correlates to forced fumbles. Love forced fumbles and solo tackles as predictors of power...tfl for quickness

IMO it starts with their personality and inner drive..do they maximize their talent? Do they have the ego that drives them to want the make a play in the 4th quarter with the game on the line? I then look at production and finally measureables....

add out of the 2015 300 olinemen with sparq scores only 2 drafted in the bottom third at 203 and 209 only 4 between 150-200
20 out of the top 50 highest sparq scores 20 drafted with 10 going in the 1st 3 rds. You get similar results at other positions. Out of 220 cb's with sparq scores none drafted lower then 120th