According to this Totally Legit Video, the Vikings Had Two of the Top Four Fastest Players in the NFL in 2016…
Joe Johnson
|
… And have both under contract for 2017, too!
It’s totally not who you would’ve thought, at least one of them. So, without milking this because I’ve literally run out of ideas on what to write, let’s milk this a bit. Actually, let’s watch it together and then discuss what it means. Unless, you clicked on the video above, which is what I’m assuming 99.9% of you did. I suppose I could just re-word my intro, but at this point it’s become such a disaster that it’s become good, like a zombie movie from the 80’s or riding a three-wheeler.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADms1hru1lM
Now, while Rhodes is known to be fast (But perhaps not THAT fast) the bigger surprise here is that Stefon Diggs is a top three speedster in the NFL? I asked this question at the source (Which is this thread on Reddit) and I think I may have answered my own question but… How is Diggs that fast? His 40 time is a bit above average if not average, but the reason scouts like the 40 as a good determinant of game speed is that it combines quickness with top end speed. It’s not too short to solely rely on quickness, and it’s not too long as to put runners in a position they rarely get into in the NFL (Running in a straight line for 30 seconds). So, perhaps Diggs isn’t quick, but is more just super fast once get gets going.
I know that he’s been called an amazing route runner and that he tends to gain speed during his cuts (Most receivers either stay at the same speed if they’re good, or lose speed if they’re mediocre or worse) something that very few receivers in the NFL can do. So, maybe that helps him reach top speeds other receivers can’t? I don’t know. I mean, that’s assuming that these numbers are correct… So I decided to delve into where these numbers came from the it’s actually pretty interesting and legit (And thanks to that legitimacy, I’m officially even a bigger Diggs fan than I already was)! Apparently the NFL has ‘Next Gen Stats’ that record (or claim to) “every inch of the field” via sensors placed throughout NFL Stadium’s (That track players via sensors on their shoulder pads). It sounds like a conspiracy theorists nightmare.
Here’s the NFL owned site. Here’s how they describe what they do:
NFL player tracking, also known as Next Gen Stats, is the capture of real time location data, speed and acceleration for every player, every play on every inch of the field. Sensors throughout the stadium track tags placed on players’ shoulder pads, charting individual movements within inches.
And here’s all of the Vikings stats for 2016. This could come in handy! So, get used to seeing lots more charts on purplePTSD.com everyone! In fact, I may change the site name to purplePROTRACTORS.com. Cause, I love me some numberz, yo. As the NFL gets closer and closer to baseball when it comes to tracking and implementing analytics, it’s really, really great to see that the Vikings do have two of the top four fastest players under contract. And even more impressive that one of them was found in the fifth round. Man, Rick Spielman is good at identifying talent. Speaking of which, with the addition of Dalvin Cook, Rodney Adams and Stacy Coley and the potential for Moritz Boehringer to crack the 53 man roster, the Vikings could round out the top five for 2017.