Christopher Swinney is an agile WR/ATH in the class of 2025. He weighs in at 5’10, 165 pounds and has posted amazing athletic measurables. At the Gridiron Football Camp in Bossier, Louisiana, Swinney recorded a 4.50 forty. That’s fast, but not near his personal best, which is a 4.4 flat. On top of his blazing speed, Swinney also has posted the following personal bests: 200LB Bench, 365LB Squat, 400LB Deadlift, 225LB Clean. While Swinney has had limited varsity time at Huntington, due to the programs deep WR room, he looks to break out in his senior season. And, athletically, there’s nothing holding him back.
Here’s why Swinney needs to be on your radar for the 2024 season:
Change-of-Direction: NFL scouts will measure the ability to change direction with the 20-yard-shuttle. Gridiron Football runs a select number of drills at their camps, with the shuttle being one of the them. At the Bossier camp, Swinney ran a 4.22- the best recorded time at the camp. Per. RAS, a database used to track the athletic ability of NFL athletes, this would be an above-average time for the receiver position. However, for high school athletes, per. Midwest Athletics, this is 0.08 seconds faster than the average excellent score. All of this is to say that Swinney possesses elite change-of-direction ability, something that will certainly separate him from the competition as the 2024 season progresses.
Explosiveness and Agility: the NFL details the broad jump as a way to gauge a players explosiveness, or how quickly a player can start and stop and with how much force. An excellent posting in the broad jump, again per. The NFL, is 1.7x times the players height. For Swinney, he’d need to post a 119″ jump, which would be considered elite by the NFL. At the camp in Bossier, he came up four inches short, posting a 115″ broad jump, again the best among all camp participants. This can be used as a testament to Swinney’s route running; the more explosive a player is, the cleaner, faster and smoother his cuts will be. This is going to give him a completive edge and make him dangerous after the catch.
Speed: This one is simple, Swinney was the fastest player at the camp- and he didn’t even post his best time. Whether teams want to line him up in the slot or out wide, not many DBs will be able to keep up with him. Not only does this make him a vertical threat, but also this makes him even more dangerous after the catch; give him a lane and he’s gone. His combination of speed, agility, explosiveness and quickness is going to make Swinney a targeted prospect in the 2025 recruiting class. For anyone curious, per. RAS, Swinney’s personal best is already considered elite, even for the NFL’s standards.
Below is a QnA between Swinney and myself:
What are your biggest accomplishments?
“Biggest accomplishment consists of becoming a better man, being recently baptized and giving my life to God”
What player do you compare yourself to and why?
“A Player I compare myself to is Rashid shaheed, with him being a speedy aggressive receiver that makes big plays and is a dual threat”
What are your current football goals?
“I plan to get 840+ receiving yards, 10+ receiving touchdowns, at least 2 kickoff touchdowns and also win three player of the weeks”
What’s a strength you have in the game?
“I’m a very good physical WR but I think my strongest weapon is RAC (run after catch). I’m shifty and have a lot of moves in the bag“
What’s your favorite activity outside of football?
“Favorite activity outside of football is staying out of trouble and being safe”
What’s your dream school to play for in college?
“The University of Houston”
What’s an interesting fact about you outside of football?
“Outside of football I’m very good at boxing, I haven’t planned to take it serious since I was young but I’m pretty good”
