ASU Football: Kalen Ballage runs 23.3 mph at practice

It’s apparent Arizona State Sun Devils running back Kalen Ballage is fast. How fast? Try 23.3 miles per hour.

@Devilstrength via Instagram

Technology is fast too.

Arizona State has used Catapult GPS tracking technology during practices and in games since last season. Players wear an embedded speed tracking device to measure how freakishly fast athletes like Ballage are actually moving.

On Wednesday, Ballage came in first among all Sun Devils and hit 23.3 miles per hour. Linebacker Koron Crump followed him at 22.7 mph and N’Keal Harry placed third with a speed of 21.8 mph.

The number closest to each player’s name under “player load,” represents the amount of movement each athlete exerts. The metric “combines all of an athlete's movements into a whole number,” according to azcentral’s Doug Haller.

Ballage is listed at 6-foot-2 and 227 pounds, and runs a 4.46 40-yard-dash, according to NFLDraftScout.com.

Below, another list emphasizes Ballage’s speed even more — putting him above the fastest players in the NFL. Take note that the seven NFL player speeds are all in games with pads on.

Last season, during his NCAA record-tying, eight-touchdown performance against Texas Tech, Ballage reportedly hit a top speed of 21.3 mph.

Taking a look back at Arizona State’s top-10 Wednesday speeds, some interesting conclusions can be made.

While Manny Wilkins (18.6 mph) is known to be a dual-threat quarterback, he timed out just .2 seconds faster than fellow Sun Devil pocket passer QB Blake Barnett (18.4 mph).

Siz of Arizona State’s 14 wide receivers listed in the top-eight from Wednesday’s summer practice in the order of Harry (21.8 mph), Jalen Harvey (20.4 mph), Frank Darby (19.3 mph), John Humphrey (18.8 mph), Ryan Newsome (18.7 mph) and Kyle Williams (18.6 mph).

While it may be uncertain who will start at quarterback in game one against New Mexico State on Aug. 31, the Sun Devils will surely have a dangerous tandem of wide receivers.