Advertisement

NFL Next Gen Stats simulates race between Tyreek Hill, DK Metcalf and Daniel Jones

charles goldman
·2 min read

Who is the fastest man in the NFL?

NFL Next Gen Stats sought to answer this question yesterday, simulating a race between three players. One of those players is Kansas City Chiefs WR Tyreek Hill, who has held the undisputed title as the fastest man in the NFL for a few years now.

NFL Next Gen Stats pit Hill against an interesting pair of newcomers that had standout plays recently. Seahawks WR DK Metcalf made a tremendous play showcasing blazing speed, chasing down an interception return from behind. The final player involved in this race is none other than Giants QB Daniel Jones, who had a breakaway TD in Week 7 but got tackled by the turf monster as he hit his top speed.

So how did the simulation work exactly? Here is how NFL Next Gen Stats explained it:

“Using each player’s speed and acceleration over the course of the fastest play of their careers, we found comparable starting points to simulate a 10-yard, 40-yard and 75-yard race.”

This is how they calculated the “comparable starting point” for the race:

“All three players were traveling approximately 12 MPH in a straight-line direction at our hypothetical starting point, and each player traveled at least 75 yards of distance before a sharp decline in speed.”

Without further ado, which of these three players wins the race? Of course, it’s Hill. Check out the simulation down below:

Perhaps my favorite part of all of this is that Hill’s play didn’t even come at a time where he had the football. It came from the play where he chased down Damien Williams from behind against the Vikings in 2019.

Fans may be clamoring for a race between Hill and Metcalf, but this tells the tale right here. Hill is still the fastest man in the NFL and Metcalf is a close second. It’ll take something really special to unseat Hill as such.

List

Chiefs release updated depth chart for Week 8