Comparing current NFL draft prospects to those of years past is standard procedure in draft evaluation, though most comparisons are built on the memory recall and subjective opinion of the particular evaluator.
This will be the first in a series of articles comparing the 2021 draft prospects to prior years and picking out the most similar comps with a clearly delineated and quantifiable method.
PFF data scientist Eric Eager has done tremendous work building college-to-pro projections, which are built off the robust college data we’ve collected since 2014 and have been applied to exercises like building an “Analytics” Mock. In this analysis, I will use some of our advanced stats for comparison but primarily rely on traditional stats to go back further to compare the 2021 prospects to draft classes going back to 2006.
Without the NFL Scouting Combine this season, the important measurables like weight and 40-yard dash will be reported through the various pro days that will be taking place over the next few weeks.
METHODOLOGY
The comps below were derived from a two-step process. First, I converted all the most statistically relevant stats and measurables to percentiles based on the thousands of prospects who have entered the NFL since 2006 at each position. Then, I filtered the total universe of past prospects by those who had draft positions, weight and 40 times within a 10th percentile in either direction of North Texas WR Jaelon Darden. For undrafted players, I assigned a numerical draft position of 300.
The rest of the matching features were transformed by principal component analysis (PCA). I found the closest statistically comparable players by the euclidean distance between the players' principle components, listed in the top 10 below.
The metrics for PCA are career market shares for receiving yards and receiving touchdowns, best-season market shares for receiving yards and touchdowns, yards per route run, and yards per reception.
For Darden's draft position, I’m using an estimate based on the mock data collected at GrindingTheMocks.com. For the weight and 40 time, I’m using the numbers from his pro day, with a 0.03-second penalty added to the 40 time to reflect the uncertainty of pro-day timed measurements.
Most comparable players
Darden ran a 4.46-second 40-yard dash (63rd percentile) at his pro day, which is good in a vacuum but not great at only 174 pounds. He displayed phenomenal short-area quickness, posting a 6.66-second three-cone drill (93rd) and 3.98-second short shuttle (97th).
Darden’s quickness was readily apparent during his time at North Texas, making him nearly unstoppable as a red-zone threat.
Quick Jaelon Darden Thread 👇🏼
This whip route 👀 pic.twitter.com/MOJzxSAJgj
— 📽+🏈x🌴 (@HawaiiBrownsHui) March 1, 2021
Draft position is the big issue for Darden. As a somewhat older prospect from a small school, it’ll be an uphill battle for him to climb into Day 2 of the NFL draft despite his outstanding production numbers.
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