Could high jumpers revolutionize short-yardage situations in the NFL?
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In the Falcons’ Week Two victory over the Broncos, running back Michael Turner — who weighs 247 pounds and runs the 40-yard-dash in 4.49 seconds and can build up quite a bit of momentum — failed on consecutive plays to advance the single yard his team needed for a touchdown. On first-and-goal from the one, Denver stopped Turner for no gain on a dive play over left guard. On second down, Turner was again stuffed on the left side. On third down, Atlanta seemed to have called the same play — but this time Turner tried jumping over the defensive line instead of barreling through it. It worked: six points.
Might things not have been easier for Atlanta if they’d tried jumping on first down — and given the ball not to the stout Turner, but a spring-legged high jumper, a "vertical back" who’s trained to get his body as high in the air as possible?
Offenses definitely have room for improvement on short-yardage plays. Data provided by Advanced NFL Stats show running backs last season successfully converted on third- and fourth-and-one only 61.8 percent of the time. Turner was actually pretty good at it, succeeding on 11 of 16 attempts in those situations last season. But even notoriously bruising runners often fail: Brandon Jacobs was 5 of 12. A better system, one that achieved, say, an 85% conversion rate, would be worth an extra point per game for a team’s offense, estimates Chase Stuart of Pro-Football-Reference.com and FootballPerspective.com — a not-insignificant two touchdowns per season.
It's clearly possible to jump over a pile of players who are set up to defend a plunge into the line; that's why backs like Turner use the leap as a change of pace. The question is whether a high jumper could get up far enough that a defender who knew what was coming couldn't stop him. It seems plausible. NFL defensive linemen top out in the six-and-a-half foot range and need to crouch slightly to stand their ground against blockers. The crowns of their helmets are likely no more than six feet off the ground. World-class high jumpers regularly clear seven-and-a-half foot bars; the record is a little over eight feet.
So it seems plausible. Moreover, it's been done before. The Godfather of vertical backs is Robb Riddick, a running back and former college high jumper who the Buffalo Bills drafted in the ninth round in 1981. Riddick didn’t make much impact until his final season in 1988. That year, he split carries with a rookie Thurman Thomas. Thomas took the bulk of the carries. But the Bills harnessed Riddick’s jumping talent and frequently gave him the ball at the goal line. He scored a career-high 12 touchdowns that season, 10 of them from the opposition’s one-yard line (and two from the 2-yard line). Riddick simply jumped over the pile. Watch him in action 24 seasons ago (skip to the 7:40 mark).
Source: youtube.com
Riddick jumped headfirst, but greater height could be achieved with different technique. Of course, athletes using the optimal Fosbury Flop method take a 10-step approach on a curving path that brings them from running directly at the high jump bar to running parallel to it before leaping — impractical for a football game. But Joe Klim, a University of Pennsylvania assistant track and field coach who specializes in jumping events, guessed a good high jumper could still achieve roughly 95 percent of his normal capability using a shorter four-step Fosbury approach, taking only the four strides that make up the curved portion of the J. “A pretty good athlete who can jump about seven feet could probably go six-foot-eight on a four-step approach,” Klim said.