The 2016 NFL Draft had the highest percentage of high school multiple sport athletes drafted since 2013. According to Tracking Football research, 224 out of the 253 (88.5%) draftees had also participated in a sport other than football during their high school career.
Below are the participation percentages by sport:
Track & Field: 148 (58.5%)
Basketball: 114 (45.1%)
Baseball: 28 (11.1%
Lacrosse: 5 (2.0%)
Soccer: 2 (0.8%)
High school multiple sport participation totals for the #NFLDraft2016 #trckftbl https://t.co/2U6QT3NShm pic.twitter.com/enYiQGmmuZ
— Tracking Football ® (@TrckFootball) May 1, 2016
Track & field was once again the most participated sport by NFL draft picks. Tracking Football’s Player Athletic Index score is an athletic analytic that factors height, weight, position, and track & field data to evaluate the raw athleticism of football players from 0.0 – 5.0. The 2016 draft class average PAI was 3.6 / 5.0, up from 3.4 / 5.0 in 2015.
Player Athletic Index score breakdown:
5.0 PAI: 11 (4.3%)
4.9-4.0 PAI: 35 (13.8%)
3.9-3.0 PAI: 64 (25.3%)
2.9-2.0 PAI: 29 (11.4%)
1.9-1.0 PAI: 3 (1.1%)
There were more than twice as many draftees that played 3 sports than those that specialized in football during high school:
Football Only: 29 / 253 (11.5%)
2 Sports: 144 / 253 (56.9%)
3 Sports: 74 / 523 (29.2%)
4 Sports: 6 / 253 (2.4%)
The 3rd round had the highest percentage of draftees that played another sport:
Round 1: 26 / 31 (83.8%)
Round 2: 31 / 32 (96.9%)
Round 3: 34 / 35 (97.1%)
Round 4: 36 / 41 (87.8%)
Round 5: 30 / 36 (83.3%)
Round 6: 38 / 46 (82.6%)
Round 7: 29 / 32 (90.6%)
Defensive linemen and defensive backs had the highest percentages of draftees that played multiple sports:
OL: 35 / 41 (85.4%)
DL: 38 / 40 (95.0%)
LB: 29 / 36 (80.6%)
WR: 27 / 31 (87.1%)
CB: 27 / 30 (90.0%)
RB: 21 / 23 (91.3%)
DB: 20 / 21 (95.2%)
QB: 11 / 15 (73.3%)
TE: 11 / 11 (100%)
SPEC: 5 / 5 (100%)
Position breakdown of all #NFLDraft2016 picks that played multiple sports in high school. https://t.co/2U6QT3NShm pic.twitter.com/q5qskxX8Bv
— Tracking Football ® (@TrckFootball) May 1, 2016
