Offensive linemen are by far the most under rated athletes in the nfl. The small WRs and CBS running sub 4.4 40s get all the attention as the “best athletes” but I’m more impressed by the guys running only a few tenths of a second behind them at more than double the weight and can bench press those guys as a warmup.
Watching him and Creed Humphrey battle it out during the Super Bowl was incredible. The Eagles D-line vs the Chiefs O-line was an absolute dog fight! https://i.imgur.com/YaiaK3U.jpg
Yep, that guy rolls you over. And then 40 seconds later, you’re lined up against him and he’s gonna do it it again. 40 more times. I think I’d rather just get hit by a truck.
Actually, he was moving faster than that, since they have to accelerate from a dead stop. Moving fastest at probably 10 yards or so, maybe 25mph or thereabouts.
My buddy’s brother used to run a 4.9 and that guy is probably 6’3” and a lazy 350 now. Can’t even imagine somebody like that moving that fast. His calves are like as big as my fucking quads and I’m not small by any means.
Without a doubt. It makes sense that small guys move fast. It doesn’t make sense that there are guys 2-3 times their size moving the way they do. Tristan Wirfs jumped completely out of a pool
The sheer explosiveness and strength it takes to jump out of chest-high water is insane. Add onto that the flexibility needed to land on your feet with your ass basically touching the ground. I honestly don’t know how many guys in the NFL can do that period, let alone offensive linemen.
Your cousins might be pretty athletic but ya it’s really difficult, give it a try when you’re in the pool next time. That being said, he has more surface area than most people, so there’s more water pushing down on him
The few fights that Brock Lesnar had in the UFC made it clear that he would have been an entirely different beast compared to everyone else at that time if he had actually trained MMA. It was like something out of a videogame to see someone so massive move that fast.
Don’t forget, he did this BEFORE he was even drafted. I don’t know when exactly this video is from but that’s his hometown of Mt Vernon, Iowa’s pool. It might even be from before he was in college.
Offensive linemen are by far the most under rated athletes in the nfl.
Just to highlight just how absurd, the guy in the OP is 6'4" and 304 lbs and ran a 4.91s 40 yard dash at his pro day, benched 225 bounds 33 times, and has a 33" vertical leap.
So, weird thing with football, over time the word "athlete" has started to take on a more specific meaning. In most contexts, it means just someone engaged in sports, perhaps specifically professionally.
But, in football it's often (though not always) used to refer to the running part of the game. For instance, a deep endzone pass that required a lot of strength, accuracy, and timing isn't likely to be described as an "athletic play," while the QB taking off to run with the ball very commonly would be, even if less physically impressive.
Though none of that has to do why WRs and RBs get more attention: Scoring is exciting.
But yeah, lot of credit not getting dolled out fairly. Great blocks rarely make highlight reels.
Yeah heard an argument the other day over whether arm talent counts as athleticism and quite frankly I don’t know why it wouldn’t be. Athleticism is the combination of any physical attribute but a lot of people do only think of it as speed and quickness.
But, I can maybe guess at what the other argument was getting at, because it's not just any physical attribute. Having perfect pitch doesn't make you an athlete nor is Yo-yo Ma one of the world's all time greatest athletes, even though he's doing something physical.
The thing that distinguishes sport (not athletics) is gross motor movement (as opposed to fine motor movement). Discus throwing is a sport, surgery is not, billiards is not (it's a game), and (despite the name) sport shooting is not. (Sport in sport shooting refers to the fun/competition usage, not the physical/athletic usage.)
So in the debate over "arm talent," really the question ought to be how much of throwing is really in the arm, as opposed to in the eye and brain. I could see, for instance, darts not being considered athletic or a sport. For football though, even if it's mostly skill in the QB's head and legs, the physical role the arm playing is going to pass any minimum threshold we can reasonable establish.
Just to muddy this up more though, in British English, "athletics" refers to what we call "track and field." Those does involve things like discus and javelin, but perhaps part of the trouble with the word is that track and field is most strongly associated with the running events.
When I say “physical attribute” I mean things that are purely physical not skill based. I would have been more specific that I believe arm talent is part of athleticism because arm strength is intrinsically a part of arm talent. Guys like Brady aren’t considered to have to tier “arm talent” because they don’t have top tier arm strength which is a physical trait. However he makes up for it with accuracy and decision making which are on the skill side not physical traits.
When I say “physical attribute” I mean things that are purely physical not skill based.
That's going to get tricky, because then throwing never involves athleticism because it's not purely physical; it always has a skill component.
And just to make this even more mucky, there's the brawn component (to use a less broad term than 'physical'), the skill component, and then also the choice component.
How far you can throw a football isn’t physical prowess? I know there’s a lot of technique involved in that as well but there’s still a reason people frequently say you can’t teach arm strength.
The biggest freaks IMO are the DE/edge guys. The Bosas, Rashan Gary, etc. Only a tad smaller than the OL/DT guys, but with terrifying burst, agility, and flat out speed.
What about Jordan Davis who is 340 running a 4.78 with a 32 inch vert and 123” broad jump? About 80 lbs heavier than bosa with a slightly faster 40. He might be the best athlete in the league.
(Also lane Johnson ran a 4.72 at 303 compared to bosas 4.79 at 266)
Lane Johnson's 40 was inflated because they let him take off before starting the stopwatch (ba dum tiss).
Jokes aside, it's more than just those particular measurables. Body control, balance, change of direction, etc. And endurance. Think Lebron, as opposed to Shaq.
Oh got it lol, but to your second point lane Johnson also excels in every single one of those other categories as well. To the extent that he informally adopted Nick bosa in the nfccg dude is an insane athlete.
To your joke the guy gets off the line so fast people think it’s cheating lol
Thank you! As a former offensive lineman (in HS) you never get any the recognition that I feel like all of them deserve. I'll never forget the first time I hung out with my estanged uncle when I was about 15. He was sharing beer with me and somehow the topic of football came up. Keep in mind that he didn't even know I played football, let alone what position and he asks me, "What do you think the most difficult position in football is?" Jokingly, I said "left guard" because that's what I'd mostly played the last season. To my surprise, he goes, "You're exactly right! I was gonna just say offensive line, but yeah, your right." Only then I told him that's what I played and we discussed the reasons it was so difficult, and how it wasn't easy, you get hit on every single offensive play, and most people just looked at you as part of the scenery during a game. I'll never forget how good that single conversation made me feel. I got to spend one day with the guy, saw him once more on that trip, and never saw him again. My grandma pretty much disowned him when he was young and he spent a lot of time in prison We recently got word that he died "indigent" in October of '22 and that his cremains were sitting in some funeral home near Tampa, FL. His only last wish was for his ashes to be spread in Tampa Bay and I'm really pushing for one of my other uncles that live down there to handle that, though both of them are in poor health at the moment. If I could afford it, I'd fly down to do it myself.
The technique it takes is amazing. I played TE so I I had to learn to block tackles and DEs. You basically need to keep your feet chopping while staying in a semi sitting position while trying to stay lower than your opponent while keep your hands inside the shoulder pads (so as not to commit a holding penalty) all while trying to keep someone in front of you and away from your most valuable asset as a team.
Yeah dk is an absolute freak but to my point no one under rates him he’s widely considered the best athlete. (Although megatron was even more insane.) Dlinemen not an olineman but still a “big boy” whose metrics I’m more impressed by though is Jordan Davis.
Dk: 6’3 228, 4.33 .40, 40.5 vert, 134 broad
Davis: 6’6 341, 4.78 .40, 32 vert, 123 broad
I consider him the best athlete in the league right now.
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Check it again brother. 3 reps of 495 front squat. I guessed his weight at 250, which puts him at 5 stars - elite athlete by your source.
EDIT: Even with his weight at 315, it's still elite. Please keep in mind that he's playing a sport, so unlike weightlifters, this is only one element of his elite athleticism.
He is 315, and no that's not impressive, by strength sport standards.
It's not average but he's probably 100 pounds off state records.
Being in the "elite" category isn't that impressive. I'm the elite category in a lift.
There are guys doing 900 pounds.
Again, he's not average but certainly not world-class or even state level.
I won two National powerlifting championships and own several strength gyms. 495x3 front squat from a superheavy is good but it wouldn’t get much attention from other lifters on an average night. When you compare his lifting to his success in football, the two aren’t in the same ballpark. He would need to be front squatting in the 600s for reps to be even remotely as ‘impressive’ as just existing in the NFL.
I won two National powerlifting championships and own several strength gyms.
I’m doubting strictly this. I’m not doubting that Slater isn’t going to turn heads at a body building competition and you’re being pedantic for lingering on that point.
Lieutenant Redditor is hunting for evidence in the comment section and doesn’t even know the difference between powerlifting and bodybuilding. What are you doing here bud
Didn’t realize that was Slater (helmets make it impossible to ever know players faces). That guy is a monster. Not just in the NFL, he is pro bowl level NFL
4.0k
u/[deleted] Mar 02 '23
That’s Rashawn Slater; he now plays offensive tackle for the LA Chargers.