What Relative Athletic Score had to say about Longhorn performances at the NFL combine

Every year when the combine comes around in late February and early March, fans are spoiled with an incredible quantity of numbers and stats that aim to tell you all you need to know about every major prospect in the sport.

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Throughout the week, scouts and analysts look for certain benchmarks to understand what a player can and can’t do for their team. Does this tackle prospect have the 35-inch arm length? Is this running back over 200 pounds while still possessing top 15 speed in his class? How quickly can this 330-pound defensive tackle run around cones and what does that mean for the future of the franchise?

One metric has become more of a commonality in the football world these past few seasons, with fans now clamoring to know how their favorite college prospect’s Relative Athletic Score compares to an All-Pro level NFL talent.

But what does RAS actually mean?

Relative Athletic Score was created by Kent Lee Platte (@mathbomb on X) and has been fine-tuned over the years to combine all 10 tests of the combine. Those tests are compiled into four different categories: Size, Speed, Explosion and Agility. These tests are all given a position-dependent score and scored 1-10. A 10.00 is a generational athlete at a position, someone who is both big but also fast and moves well laterally and quickly.

The Longhorns have sent a 10.00 prospect to the NFL recently, former three-year starter offensive lineman Sam Cosmi. Here’s what his chart looked like compared to every guard that has been to the combine since 1987.

At nearly 6-foot-6, Cosmi’s 20-yard split in his 40 was better than almost every guard’s ever. Cosmi, who was seen as a high-ceiling prospect with obvious flaws, rode these grades to a second-round selection in the 2021 NFL Draft, the highest a Longhorn had been drafted in three seasons.

Texas sent 14 players to the combine in 2025, but as of now the RAS website has just four players with full grades. If that changes, IT will be sure to provide updates on where players like Quinn Ewers or Matthew Golden scored amongst their position groups.

The four players that do have etched-in grades are potential first rounders Kelvin Banks and Jahdae Barron as well as Barryn Sorrell and Gunnar Helm.

The biggest winner of this group in terms of relative athletic score ended up being Sorrell. The New Orleans native needed to do a lot to make up for a poor size grade, and Sorrell did just that.

Sorrell is small for edge rushers, just 43rd percentile in size.

Sorrell was a part of Bruce Feldman’s CFB Freak’s list ahead of the season, and he did a lot of freakish things at the Combine. Him being a 91st percentile bench presser at a 43rd percentile weight is extremely impressive, but something that always could’ve happened given what we saw on field. Sorrell participated in every other event and showed to be 71st percentile or better at every test, specifically showing out with a 4.68 40-yard dash. Just five edge rushers had a better day at the combine by RAS score, and Sorrell gave teams a great reason to take a day-three flyer on a high-motor team leader from a top CFB team.

Banks and Barron each had great combines, with Banks ranking 11th among tackles and Barron ranking seventh among CBs. Banks was a bit small for the position at just a touch over 6-foot-5, but his 32-inch vertical was a 92nd percentile score. Numbers like vertical jump show off a players lower-body strength and explosiveness, meaning Banks is putting his money where his tape is as an explosive pass blocker that can beat an edge rusher to their move.

Barron was an average tester by Size and Explosion grades, but the Austin native showed impeccable speed among his class. He ran a 4.39 40-yard dash, the sixth-best time at his position. His 10-yard split was second-fastest in the group as well. Barron proved to GMs that he is not only an elite cerebral player, especially in the run game and with last second ball-manipulation, but also a true burner who can keep up with the fastest men in America.

Unfortunately for our last case, Helm, the RAS score was not one to write home about.

Helm’s 4.49 grade was bottom five among tight ends while fellow second-round hopeful Terrance Ferguson topped the list. Helm ran an abysmal 4.84 40-yard dash and was overall poor at speed and explosiveness, but it was revealed later that he was dealing with a sprained ankle throughout the event, suffered when he false started his first run of the day. You would’ve liked Helm to weigh a bit closer to 250 and run around a 4.7, but the tape still does speak for itself. He’ll be a good asset for any NFL team that drafts him and will still have the Texas Football Pro Day to prove he’s better than a 4.84 speed TE.

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RAS has a strong correlation with NFL success, but it’s not gospel. While some positions like RB and Edge (which favors Sorrell) rely on players to be 90th percentile athletes to succeed, a position like Helm’s may not require absurd testing and metrics, just a good football player. The Longhorns had many other winners that the combine such as Golden, Ewers and Vernon Broughton, and the event is a great highlight of why strength and conditioning coach Torre Becton is so valued in Austin. Texas fans will have to wait until the Pro Day to next see their players in action before the NFL Draft, with the first round kicking off on April 24th.