NFL teams are always looking for a competitive edge, whether it is on the field or in the scouting department. One of the newest developments in the scouting field is the SPARQ metric which measures the athleticism of a given player. The metric was originally developed by Nike, who made the formula publicly available for one brief offseason. However, the value of SPARQ was not lost as some enterprising Seahawks bloggers took the formula and were able to recreate it. As an introduction to SPARQ, I highly recommend this post from the Field Gulls blog explaining how the Seahawks use SPARQ ratings to help rank their draft prospects. From that post, SPARQ is essentially:
“Think of it as an SAT score for Football Players. This “SAT” score, or SPARQ rating, does not trump the evaluation of game tape, a person’s character and competitiveness, interviews with coaches, and medicals. It is just another tool for coaches to use.”
SPARQ is a single number calculated by:
“The SPARQ score is calculated using five inputs. There is no height or arm length component involved. The five components are:
(1) A Player’s Weight (this “normalizes” the score, giving credit to a bigger player who displays similar movement skills to a smaller, quicker player)
(2) Forty Time
(3) 5-10-5 agility drill (some call this the 20 yard shuttle or short shuttle)
(4) Kneeling Powerball Toss (more on this later, but this replaces the bench press)
(5) Vertical Jump
SPARQ intends to blend an athlete’s size, speed, explosive power, and agility into one metric.”
…and finally, the general scale for SPARQ scores:
“Score Below 100 – Likely below average for many NFL Athletes
Score Between 100-115 – Average for many NFL Athletes
Score between 116-130 – Very Good NFL Athlete
Score Above 130 – Elite NFL Athlete”
It is also noted that while SPARQ is a useful metric to measure explosiveness and athleticism, it is most effective for offensive skill position players (RB, WR, TE), defensive backs and linebackers. It is least effective for offensive linemen, defensive linemen and quarterbacks. There is extremely limited data still available from the 2013 draft, but it should be noted that Le’Veon Bell had a SPARQ score of 121.98, one of the highest in the 2013 RB class.
As the folks at Field Gulls have shown, the Seahawks clearly target players in the draft with high SPARQ ratings. (If you’re interested in more of their analysis, here is an archive of their SPARQ-related posts). The Steelers have been maligned as an organization that does not make much use of advanced statistical metrics. However, when putting together my profiles on the Steelers pre-draft visitors this year, I noticed that many of them had very high SPARQ scores. For this year’s draft class, 3 Sigma Athlete has position-by-position breakdowns of SPARQ scores. Since SPARQ is such a new metric, there is not much historical data about past draft classes, but I was able to find a spreadsheet with SPARQ scores for the 2014 draft class. Looking at the Steelers 2014 draft class, there was a noticeable trend.
Ryan Shazier
LB – Ohio State
SPARQ score: 152.2
SPARQ position rank: #1 OLB
Stephon Tuitt
DT – Notre Dame
SPARQ score: 98.5
SPARQ position rank: #38 DT
Dri Archer
RB/WR – Kent St
SPARQ score: 130.9
SPARQ position rank: #10 RB
Martavis Bryant
WR – Clemson
SPARQ score: 123.9
SPARQ position rank: #19 WR
Shaquille Richardson
CB – Arizona
SPARQ score: 123.3
SPARQ position rank: #15 CB
Wesley Johnson
OT – Vanderbilt
SPARQ score: 111.2
SPARQ position rank: #12 OT
Jordan Zumwalt
LB – UCLA
SPARQ score: 115.3
SPARQ position rank: #29 OLB
Daniel McCullers
NT – Tennessee
SPARQ score: 82.2
SPARQ position rank: #16 NT
Rob Blanchflower
TE – Massachusetts
SPARQ score: 104.8
SPARQ position rank: #38 TE
The first and most obvious observation is that the Steelers did not select a skill position player with a SPARQ score below 100. Secondly, the Steelers did not select a player that was ranked outside the Top 40 at their position. Given that the SPARQ metric is not incredibly useful for interior linemen, dropping Tuitt and McCullers from the initial analysis would mean that the 7 remaining players had SPARQ scores over 100 and only one (7th rounder Rob Blanchflower) had a SPARQ score below 110. The Steelers clearly placed an emphasis on athleticism in 2014, not just in the draft but in free agency where they added athletic safety Mike Mitchell. Obviously, there is a divide between “athleticism” and “tackling ability” and “coverage ability.” That said, the Steelers first round choice bears further investigation.
After the draft, word leaked out that the Steelers were very high on two cornerbacks – Oklahoma State’s Justin Gilbert and Virginia Tech’s Kyle Fuller. To the surprise of many fans (and to my chagrin), they did not select Michigan State corner Darqueze Dennard with their first round pick. SPARQ provides some explanation. Gilbert had a SPARQ score of 121.4 and Fuller a SPARQ score of 120.6 while Dennard had a score of 117.3. By contrast, Ryan Shazier’s SPARQ score of 152.2 was the highest in the entire draft class. After the draft, all the Steelers brass could do was rave about Shazier’s athleticism and explosiveness – exactly what SPARQ measures.
Moving forward to 2015, the Steelers are clearly interested in highly athletic players once again. Looking at the cornerbacks (one of the positions where SPARQ measures athleticism the best), the Steelers have made a concerted effort to target those with high SPARQ scores. Remember, in 2014 the Steelers did not select a player that ranked outside the Top 40 at their position in SPARQ. So far in preparation for the 2015 draft, the Steelers have taken an extended look at 17 of the top 35 CBs in SPARQ rankings (either attended their Pro Day or had them in for a pre-draft visit). By contrast, the Steelers have only reportedly had contact with 6 CBs that rate outside the Top 35 in SPARQ.
Cornerback is just one sampling of the prospects the Steelers have spent time with, but the trend is consistent across the other positions as well. The Steelers, like the Seahawks, are clearly focusing on athletic and explosive players. For a full list of players the Steelers have made contact with during the draft process, either at the combine, attending their pro day or hosting for a visit, see this post from Steelers Wire. In conclusion, it is important to remember that SPARQ is just one means of researching a player’s potential. SPARQ is a good metric for measuring athleticism and explosiveness, but should not be used on its own. SPARQ is most effective to supplement game tape research, which still remains the most effective scouting tool. That said, the Steelers have clearly placed an emphasis on players with high SPARQ ratings and have built their draft strategy to target highly athletic players.
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