Expert Analysis

3/24/23

7 min read

RB Athletic Archetype Guide: Minnesota Vikings

By Nic Bodiford

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Welcome to The 33rd Team’s Athletic Archetypes series. These pieces will break down the preferred, position-specific athletic profiles utilized by NFL general managers. The purpose of the series is to help identify team-specific 2023 NFL Draft targets at the running back position.

NFL Combine data will be used whenever possible. Pro-day data will be used in a supplementary capacity if and when a player chooses not to participate in a combine drill or if the combine data is not available. Pro-day data is marked using an asterisk except for arm length and hand length, which is always collected on pro days.

NFL Draft Scout is the primary data source, with Relative Athletic Score used as the preferred backup. 

Other Archetypes: ARZ | ATL | BUF | CAR | CHI | DAL | DEN | DET | GB | KC | LAC | LAR | LV | NE | NO | NYG | NYJ | PHI | SF | SEA | TB | WAS

Vikings RB Archetype

Kwesi Adofo-Mensah (2022-Present)

Sample size: 8

• Adofo-Mensah undoubtedly has been influenced by working alongside Sashi Brown’s best-known cohorts, Paul DePodesta and Andrew Berry, but his accomplishments are entirely his own.
• In 2013, the San Francisco 49ers hired Adofo-Mensah off of Wall Street, filling their vacant manager of football research and development position. He was promoted to director of the department in 2016.
• Adofo-Mensah jumped to the Cleveland Browns as vice president of football operations in 2020.
• The Minnesota Vikings hired Adofo-Mensah as general manager in January 2022.

The tables below reflect Adofo-Mensah's preferred athletic archetype for the running back position.

Players Removed From The Sample

• Running backs Brian Herrien and Benny LeMay were undrafted free agents in 2020. Their data is shown in the sample tables below, but their data has been excluded from the archetype process.
• Herrien and LeMay are the only running backs with sub-31.125-inch arms, and their nine-inch hands are tied with Ty Chandler for smallest in the group.
• LeMay produced sample-worst marks in the 40-yard dash, 10-yard split, broad jump and vertical jump.
• Adofo-Mensah’s commitment to long-armed running backs since dabbling with Herrien and LeMay is the primary reason for their exclusion, though LeMay's overall profile is chaotically problematic on its own.

General Sample Information

• Adofo-Mensah’s running backs must compete in all six NFL Combine events.
• Five of eight running backs stand 5-foot-11, two are 5-foot-10 and one is 5-foot-9.
• Sub-5-foot-11 exceptions are made when a player has proven himself as a capable pass-catcher.
• Weight and body mass index (BMI) are irrelevant.
• Arms must be at least 31.125 inches.
• Hands must be at least nine inches, and 9.125 or likely longer.
• Arizona Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort deprioritizes the NFL Combine and instead focuses on height and weight. Adofo-Mensah similarly deprioritizes the combine, though he closely monitors pro day performances. For this reason, Alexander Mattison’s pro day 40-yard dash and 10-yard split data have been used in place of his NFL Combine data, as has John Kelly’s short-shuttle data. Both men improved their relative athletic scores (RAS) by over 20.0 percent.
• The 40-yard dash is generally irrelevant, though 4.64 seconds (42nd percentile RAS) is the minimum.
• The 10-yard split is also generally irrelevant, though 1.62 seconds (48th percentile RAS) is likewise the minimum.

Pass-Catchers Have Lower Thresholds

• The ideal time for the short shuttle is 4.22-4.29 seconds.
• Among the four running backs who ran 4.41-to-4.53 seconds, three demonstrated excellent pass-catching ability in college. Those three - Chandler, Demetric Felton and Kareem Hunt - also made their respective final rosters. Tre Harbison did not.
• Chandler and Felton also displayed impressive college return-game ability.
• A 4.25-second short-shuttle time registers as a 70th percentile RAS.
• A 4.50-second short-shuttle time registers as a 19th percentile RAS.
• The ideal three-cone drill ranges from 7.03-7.13 seconds.
• Proven pass-catchers may run as slow as 7.40 seconds.
• The ideal broad jump is at least 10 feet.
• Proven pass-catchers may jump as low as 9-foot-6.
• The ideal vertical jump is at least 35 inches.
• Proven pass-catchers may jump as low as 31 inches.
• The ideal bench press repetition total is more than 20 repetitions.
• Proven pass-catchers may produce as few as 10 bench press repetitions.

Physical Traits Vikings Will Target

• Ideally 5-foot-11 but as short as 5-foot-9 for pass-catchers
• Arm length: At least 31.125 inches
• Hands size: At least nine inches but ideally 9.125 or larger
• 40-yard dash: At least 4.64 seconds
• 10-yard split: At least 1.62 seconds
• Short shuttle time: Ideally 4.22-to-4.29 seconds, but pass-catchers may run as slow as 4.53 seconds
• Three-cone time: Ideally 7.03-to-7.13 seconds, but pass-catchers may run as slow as 7.40 seconds
• Broad jump: Ideally 10 feet or further, but pass-catchers may jump as shallow as 9-foot-6
• Vertical jump: Ideally 35 inches, but pass-catchers may jump as low as 9-foot-6
• Bench press: Ideally 20 or more repetitions, but pass-catchers may produce as few as 10 repetitions

Potential 2023 Draft RB Targets

Prospects with strong threshold correlation are marked with an asterisk

• *Bijan Robinson, Texas: 5-foot-11, 31.125-inch arms, 9.75-inch hands, 4.46-second 40-yard dash, 1.52-second 10-yard split, 10-foot-4 broad jump and a 37-inch vertical. Robinson skipped the remaining NFL Combine drills (scouting report)
• *Zach Evans, Mississippi: 5-foot-11, 31.625-inch arms and 10.25-inch hands. Evans skipped the NFL Combine and must participate in Mississippi’s Pro Day (scouting report)
• *Kendre Miller, TCU: 5-foot-11, 32.375-inch arms and 9.375-inch hands. Miller skipped the NFL Combine and must participate in TCU’s Pro Day (scouting report)
• Chase Brown, Illinois: 5-foot-9.5, 10-inch hands, 4.43-second 40-yard dash, 1.53-second 10-yard split, 10-foot-7 broad jump, 40-inch vertical jump and 25 bench press repetitions. Given the strength of his overall profile, his 31.0-inch arms are not automatically disqualifying. He skipped the shuttle drills but productively caught 27 passes as a redshirt senior (scouting report)
• Israel Abanikanda, Pittsburgh: 32-inch arms. He stands 5-foot-10 and has 8.25-inch hands. He skipped the NFL Combine. His small hands could be disqualifying but he promisingly fumbled just two times on 2,172 rushing attempts. He was a mild-to-moderately productive pass-catcher (scouting report)
• Zach Charbonnet, UCLA: 32-inch arms, 9.375-inch hands, 4.53-second 40-yard dash, 1.54-second 10-yard split, 10-foot-2 broad jump and a 37-inch vertical jump. He produced 18 bench press repetitions but is a proven pass-catcher. He stands 6 feet, which could be disqualifying. He skipped the NFL Combine shuttle drills (scouting report)
• SaRodorick Thompson Jr., Texas Tech: 31.625-inch arms, 1.56-second 10-yard split, 10-foot broad jump and a 32.5-inch vertical jump. Thompson Jr. falls short on five threshold requirements (even those lowered for pass-catchers) but was a productive pass-catcher at Texas Tech: 5-foot-11.5, nine-inch hands, 4.67-second 40-yard dash, 4.70-second short shuttle and a 7.25-second three-cone time. If Adofo-Mensah is desperate, Thompson Jr. could be an option

The tables below show the raw data used for this running back sample

• At Boise State’s Pro Day, Mattison improved his 40-yard dash time to 4.60 seconds and his 10-yard split to 1.57 seconds.
• At Tennessee’s Pro Day, Kelly improved his short-shuttle time to 4.22 seconds.

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Nic Bodiford

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Nic Bodiford contributes to The 33rd Team's fantasy football department and works elsewhere as an analyst and editor in written, video and audio mediums. These works can be found at Pro Football Focus, 4for4, Nerdball and Fake Teams. Nic moonlights at Legendary Upside by editing Pat Kerrane's weekly article, The Walkthrough.