Indianapolis Colts’ GM Chris Ballard has constructed the NFL’s most athletic roster heading into the 2024 season by Relative Athletic Score (RAS).
In short, RAS is a way to compare a player’s athleticism to the rest of his position group through an easily digestible number based on height, weight, and athletic testing numbers. The RAS scale ranges from 0-10, and the closer to 10 a player scores, the better the athlete.
Kent Lee Platte, the inventor of RAS, recently ranked each NFL roster by average RAS. At the very top of the list was the Colts, with a team RAS of 8.39 out of 10. Rounding out the top five were the Eagles (8.00), the Jets (7.88), the Jaguars (7.8), and the Giants (7.75).
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On the back end were the Bengals at 30th (6.94), the Raiders at 31st (6.91), and the Rams in last (6.66).
Since taking over as general manager, Ballard has always drafted high-end athletes. But the last three draft classes, in particular, have really helped shape this roster into the most athletic in football.
Platte would refer to the Colts as “one of the most RAS heavy teams of the last decade.” Adding that “they’re almost comical about how hard they go after the top flight athletes.”
From 2017 through 2021, the Colts’ draft picks had an average RAS of 7.8, which would still rank very highly compared to the rest of the NFL. However, in 2022 and 2023, the Colts’ average RAS for a draft pick sky-rocketed to 9.56.
In 2022 specifically, the lowest RAS for a Colts’ selection was 9.34. Then, in 2023, out of Ballard’s 12 picks, nine scored above 9.0, with the lowest being 8.48.
This year’s class wasn’t quite at the overall level of 2022 and 2023, but Ballard still selected many of the top athletes within their respective position groups. Laiatu Latu would score a 9.37 on the RAS scale. Adonai Mitchell had a near-perfect 9.99. Tanor Bortolini scored 9.77, with Jonah Laulu at 9.62. Anthony Gould and Jaylon Carlies would both score over 8.0 as well.
Of course, pure athleticism doesn’t always translate to good football. However, having high-end athletes does increase the chances of finding quality football players who can contribute.