Trio of Buckeyes crack annual college football Freaks List
COLUMBUS — The first Ohio State member of the annual Freaks List was easy to guess.
The other two are newcomers to the list.
As the season draws closer, Bruce Feldman from The Athletic released his annual college football Freaks List, and a trio Ohio State stars cracked the top 100.
The obvious choice was Buckeyes wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., who is No. 2 in the country on the list, topped only by South Carolina freshman wide receiver Nyckoles Harbor. It’s the second straight season that Feldman has listed Harrison Jr. as his second-ranked freak in college football.
Harrison was the best wide receiver in all of college football last season despite not winning the Biletnikoff Award, which went to Tennessee receiver Jalin Hyatt. Harrison projects to be a top-five draft pick in the NFL Draft next spring after he terrorizes opposing secondaries for one more campaign with the Buckeyes.
Feldman said this about Harrison Jr.:
He’s very strong — he bench presses 380 pounds and did 20 reps of 225 on the bench and squatted 500. He’s very explosive, having broad-jumped 10 feet 8, and he’s really sudden, having clocked a 3.94 in the shuttle and improved on his max velocity from last year, up to 23.5 MPH. Asked for what training result he’s most proud of, he says it’s his 5-10-5, given his height and weight, yet still can run a sub-4-second time.
Bruce Feldman, The Athletic
From there, another pair of Buckeyes made the list of the most athletic freaks in all of college football. No. 20 on the list is safety Sonny Styles, a second-year Ohio State defender who has superstar potential.
Feldman had this to say about Styles:
Styles is 6-5, 228 pounds and broad-jumps 11 feet. He vertical-jumped 39 inches this offseason and squatted 600 pounds. He also ran the 40 in the high 4.4s and hit 22 MPH on the GPS. Remember his name this fall.
Bruce Feldman, The Athletic
And then there’s running back Chip Trayanum, who began his career as a running back at Arizona State before transferring to Ohio State to become a linebacker — only to become a running back again at the end of last season. Trayanum checked in at No. 37 in the annual freak’s list.
Feldman said this about Trayanum, who was the primary ball-carrier for Ohio State in the loss to Michigan last season:
The versatile Buckeye made 13 tackles as a linebacker and then, when injury hit the OSU offense, shifted to running back and gained 83 of his 92 rushing yards in the Michigan game. The 5-11, 233-pound senior had run for 10 touchdowns in his two seasons as a power back at ASU before transferring to Columbus. Trayanum is a big, strong, explosive dude. He bench-pressed 415 and squatted 650 this offseason, but he also ran a 40 in the high 4.3s and had a max velocity of 22.2 MPH.
Bruce Feldman, The Athletic
Ohio State has one of the best rosters in college football. It’s littered with more than just three freaks. But Feldman had three Buckeyes among his biggest freaks in the sport, one more than the Buckeyes had last season.
