Uncategorized – Biomechanical Review

2023 Skill Position Draft Review: Part 1

The following is the first part the 2023 NFL skill position draft review, examining Anthony Richardson and the top rated RBs and WRs (the ones who were studied most closely for exceptional biomechanical traits). Where applicable, NFL scheme will be considered as part of their probability of finding NFL success

Anthony Richardson: the Most Interesting Player of the 2023 NFL Draft

For the first biomechanical review of the 2023 offseason (and therefore the first review since methods have advanced over the past several months), it seems appropriate to present arguably the most interesting/ polarizing prospect of the 2023 draft. Anthony Richardson (6’4” ~230 lbs QB from Florida) shows some of the most potentially powerful tools of any recent QB studied in this space, but in such an unfinished state as to be genuinely still in their raw assembly phase.

The Biomechanics Underlying Russell Wilson’s Play in 2022

In order to understand why Russell Wilson has been struggling to date, it is important to know two things about his biomechanical makeup.

Javonte Williams Injury/ Recovery Analysis

On Sunday, Javonte Williams suffered an injury to his right knee, reportedly tearing his ACL, his LCL, and suffering a nonspecified injury to his posterior lateral corner. In other words, he tore the ligaments stabilizing his knee along the anterior and the lateral posterior. And the bundle of ligaments and tendons at the posterior lateral corner of his knee was also destabilized (this generally means that the tibia and femur can be separated side to side along that posterior lateral axis).

So what do the underlying biomechanics say about this injury and about Javonte Williams’s likelihood of returning to the same pre-injury level of play?

The Decline of Melvin Gordon

Having discussed the biomechanics underlying ‘burst’ earlier this week (and its relevance to Randy Gregory’s profile), Monday’s game made clear that there is another player relevant to this discussion– Melvin Gordon.

2022 Priority Free Agents

It’s (finally) time to take a look at Denver’s 2022 priority FA class. Much like with the 2022 draft class, these players are mostly anterior dominant, perhaps showing a shift of emphasis with the new coaching staff and personnel.

Randy Gregory and an Examination of ‘Burst’

In order to understand Randy Gregory’s somewhat unusual biomechanical makeup, it’s helpful to first inspect an often-used but little-described football term: ‘burst’. What is burst? If you’ve watched football, you’ve seen it– that extra bit of explosion, where the running back suddenly erupts through the line, or when a WR running down the sidelines sprints all-out to make it to the end zone. But what is it? What is the underlying mechanism that allows a person to suddenly maximize their physical output– to red-line their engine?

Impressions: Young Ascending Skill Position Players

At the encouragement of Nick Korte (the maestro running the show here at the Thin Air Network), this article is an attempt to identify various young players who have not yet reached their NFL potential. Whose talent currently outstrips their role. In many cases this is because they are rookies, and in some cases it’s because they have been buried on depth charts or otherwise put in disadvantageous positions. However, these projections will be taking the long view– many of these players (particularly the rookies) won’t reach their full potential for years. Nevertheless, for fantasy football players looking for long-term investments (for dynasty/ keeper leagues), or for those interested in a somewhat more shallow biomechanical take on various young players, this article may be of use.

Draft Review 2022: Rounds 5 (cont) through 7

Having reviewed the first 6 players of Denver’s draft in May (link here), it’s finally time to look at the final 3 picks

Drew Lock, Zach Wilson, and Large-scale NFL Trends

Over the past year, much biomechanical study has gone into quarterbacks, trying to determine the baseline physical requirements of the position. At the risk of stating the obvious, quarterbacks are both the most important players in football, and also the hardest to project in transition from college to the NFL. So a method of predicting NFL quarterback success by analyzing college level biomechanical efficiency– if reliable– would be highly useful.