RAS Roundup: How athletic is the Miami Dolphins 2023 NFL Draft class?

The 2023 NFL Draft has come and gone, and despite rumblings and rumors about the Miami Dolphins possibly trading up into the first round for a highly graded player, or trading down to acquire more picks this year, Miami stayed put for all of their picks and added just four rookies — outside of the undrafted free agent class — to the squad for the upcoming season.

Despite the low number of picks, according to an advanced athletic testing measurement tool called RAS (Relative Athletic Score), the Dolphins did well to add plus athletes to the team with their few selections.

What is RAS?

RAS was developed by Kent Lee Platte and is a score that is given to prospects based on that player’s athletic testing results from the NFL Combine and/or that player’s pro day. The 10-point sliding scale factors in things such as height, weight, vertical jump, 40-yard dash time, bench press reps and more. Once a player’s overall score is determined, one can easily compare how athletic that player is to his peers or even past draft prospects.

As you can see from the graphic above, Miami’s selections graded out well, with three of the four picks reaching the “elite” status, while new running back Devon Achane reached just the “okay” level mainly due to his small stature and his poor jumping metrics.

Cam Smith — Miami’s new cornerback addition — graded out as the 9th most athletic cornerback in the 2023 NFL Draft according to RAS.

As mentioned above, Achane’s score was lower than a good portion of the running backs available in the 2023 NFL Draft, however his speed grade was listed as “elite.”

The Dolphins’ sixth round selection, Stanford WR/TE Elijah Higgins, graded as an “elite” athlete mainly due to his size and his broad jump number.

Miami’s final selection, OT Ryan Hayes from Michigan, posted high marks in the speed and agility portions of the testing metrics.

Time will tell if these selections for the Miami Dolphins in the 2023 NFL Draft will make an impact on the field for the team, however if you judge this draft on the players’ RAS alone, these four rookies look like great additions to the squad.