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This One Combine Test May Be Colts' Biggest Pre-Draft Indicator
When projecting who the Indianapolis Colts will draft, look no further than performance in one particular drill.
It’s no secret that the Indianapolis Colts have coveted top-tier athletes during Chris Ballard’s tenure with the team. Over the past two draft classes, the team has fielded the fifth (2022) and eighth (2023) highest average athletic score classes since 2000.
Ballard loves to take shots in the draft on athletes and leaves it up to the coaching staff to use that athleticism on the field.
For all the Combine/pro day drills that go into athletic scores, is there one test that rises above the rest in terms of importance for the Colts? I dug through all 55 draft picks that the Colts have made since Ballard’s first draft with the Colts in 2018 and found a common trend among the players: 71% of all players selected have scored 80th percentile or better in the broad jump.
This reliance on the broad jump as a pre-draft indicator has been especially prevalent in the Colts’ last two draft classes, as they have selected more players who scored in the 99th percentile in the drill than players who have scored below the 90th percentile since 2022. Eighteen of the Colts’ 20 selections in the past two draft classes scored 85th percentile or better in the drill, with the lone outliers being cornerbacks Darius Rush (58th percentile) and Jaylon Jones (64th percentile).
The Colts value the broad jump in the pre-draft process, so it’s important to understand why this drill is essential. Like the vertical jump, the broad jump is a metric designed to test explosiveness from a stagnant point. The broad jump goes a little bit further than the vertical, though, as a key point of emphasis in the drill is landing balanced after completing the initial burst. SB Nation wrote this about the drill back in 2015:
The broad jump is primarily used to measure a player's short-area quickness and burst. Players jump from a standing position, and they must land balanced. Players cannot move forward or backward after landing. It's a measure of lower-body balance and strength. Like the vertical jump, the broad jump is important for defensive linemen and pass rushers, for example -- players who work primarily in tight areas. Their strength and speed off the line, coupled with the balance after landing, are key factors to success.
This drill is mightily important to trench players, at least in the Colts’ eyes. Will Fries (97th percentile), Bernhard Raimann (98th percentile), and Braden Smith (97th percentile) were all elite testers in the broad, while lone outlier Quenton Nelson (76th percentile) still performed well above average. This trend continues on the defensive line as well, as recent draft picks Adetomiwa Adebawore (99th percentile), Titus Leo (99th percentile), and Eric Johnson (95th percentile) all scored elite in this regard.
The only position in which the Colts have not used the broad jump as a massive pre-snap indicator is cornerback, as three of the 15 players the Colts have selected are at that position under the 80th percentile threshold. Even with those outliers accounted for, the general consensus for every position that the Colts have drafted under Ballard is an elite broad jump score.
So, Colts fans and people doing mock drafts for the Colts, make sure you include players with high broad jump scores when doing realistic simulations. If the player that you love for the Colts happens to have a below-average score in this metric, it might be time to find a new draft crush. If your love goes to a player in the 90th percentile or better, odds are the Colts will also view that player fondly.
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