Jadeveon Clowney is thought of as a “once-in-a-decade” or even “once-in-a-generation” pass rushing talent by many. Once the top rated high school talent in the country, Clowney has retained that distinction through 3 years in college football’s most dominant conference. Super-talents like Clowney have traditionally been gambled on in the NFL draft with little idea of what future production is actually statistically anticipated. For all of the concerns over his work ethic, dedication, and professionalism, Clowney’s athleticism and potential have never been called into question. But is his athleticism actually that rare? And is his talent worth gambling millions of dollars and the 1st overall pick on? This article aims to objectify exactly how rare Jadeveon Clowney’s athleticism is in a historical sense.
Jadeveon Clowney set the NFL draft world on fire at this year’s combine when he delivered one of the most talked-about combine performances of recent memory, primarily driven by his blistering 40 yard dash time of 4.53. Over the years, however, I recall players like Vernon Gholston, Mario Williams, and even Ziggy Ansah displaying mind-boggling athleticism in drills. But if each year a player displays unseen athleticism at the combine, who is really impressive enough that we deem them “Once-in-a-decade?”
Probability Ranking allows me to identify the probability of encountering an athlete’s measurable. For instance, I probability ranked NFL combine 40 yard dash times for 341 defensive ends from 1999-2014 (Table 1 shows the top 50). In this case, Jadeveon Clowney’s 40 time of 4.53 had a probability rank of 99.12, meaning his speed is in the 99th percentile of all DEs over this time span.
