NFL vs NCAA positional comparison: Nordic and CMJ results

How do National Football League (NFL) and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) athletes compare when it comes to performance on the Nordic and countermovement jump (CMJ) tests? Tests were conducted on the NordBord and ForceDecks VALD testing systems, respectively.

Data from the recent 2020-21 American football season suggests that college athletes playing in the defensive back (DB), running back (RB) and tight end (TE) positions perform as well as – if not better than – their professional counterparts when it comes to examining common Nordic and CMJ metrics.

Despite potential differences in training age and playing experience, NCAA football athletes appear to be on par with NFL athletes from a physical performance perspective.

To learn more about NordBord or ForceDecks, email us at info@valdperformance.com. 

📚 Read more data reports / summaries:

National Football League (NFL) CMJ Results

European Football Report Season 2019-20: Nordic Strength

European Football Report Season 2019-20: Hip Adductor Strength

RESEARCH SUMMARY: Monitoring hamstring fascicle length and running (McGrath et al., 2020)