This time of year I enjoy reading about the draft prospects’ athletic abilities. The combine is a great source but alas no combine this year. The Pro days will get a lot more press. I always enjoy checking out the players that make the Athletic’s Bruce Feldman’s top 50 “freaks” in college football. He describes it as “Spotlight the guys who generate buzz inside their programs by displaying the type of rare physical abilities that wow even those folks who are used to observing gifted athletes every day.”
The Giants have three players that made the list.
2016 Freaks List
9. Saquon Barkley
10. Jabrill Peppers
2017 Freaks List
1. Saquon Barkley
2. Dexter Lawrence
All three Giant “Freaks” have performed well on the Giants. Peppers 2020 passer rating when targeted was 16th among strong safeties in 2020. He led the Giants safeties in stops. Peppers was second on the team with 11 passes defended. Barkley made 2018 AP Offensive Rookie of the Year. Barkley is 13th all time among running backs in their first 31 games in yards from scrimmage. Of the 45 backs in their first 31 games with 3000+ yards from scrimmage Barkley is 10th in yards per rush attempt. Dexter Lawrence made the 2019 NFL All Rookie Team. In 2020 Lawrence was tie for second on the team in sacks and QB hits.
The Giants added a “Freak” in 2018 and two in 2019. Will they add one this offseason? Here is my Giants 2021 draft if they only picked Feldman “Freaks”.
Round 2
ED Carlos Basham Jr. – 6’3″ 281 lbs
Feldman says that Basham jumps 36 inches and runs a 4.21 short shuttle. The 281 lb end is the heaviest edge rusher among nfldraftnetwork’s edge rushers in the top 400 players.The only player at the combine since 2000 that was that weight and had similar event numbers was JJ Watt in 2011. Carlos Basham has at least one QB pressure in all 34 games he started at Wake Forest. Basham had multiple games in 2019 with double digit pressures. He has had Over 50 pressures in each of 2019 and 2018.
Round 3
OT Spencer Brown – 6’9″ 314 lbs
At almost 6’9″ and 314 lbs Brown can bench press 500 lbs. Brown is said to have the athleticism of a big tight end. This guy is a Giant – check out this picture.
Don’t need a tape measure to know 6’8” Northern Iowa OT Spencer Brown is a large man. #TheDraftStartsInMobile #giant pic.twitter.com/qOzHbATMjp
— Jim Nagy (@JimNagy_SB) January 24, 2021
The nfldraftnetwork report says he plays with a nasty disposition and plays hard from snap to whistle.
Round 4
WR Nico Collins – 6’4″ 215 lbs
Collins’ “freakiest” trait listed is his agility. Feldman states that Collins is a “very dynamic athlete, running the 40 in the 4.4s, and his coached rave about his toughness and body control.” In the last decade only nine wide receivers of Nico’s size (6’4″ 216 lbs) ran in the 4.4s for the forty yard dash. In 2019 Collins was 15th in average yards per reception with 19.7 yards. Of those top 15 players Collins had the 7th most yards per game and the fifth most among 2021 draft prospects.
Round 6
CB Trill Williams – 6’2″ 198 lbs
Feldman writes that Williams vertical jumped 40 inches and has been clocked at a laser-timed 4.34 in the 40. Williams, up about 20 pounds since last year, also has benched pressed 225 pounds 17 times. At 6’2″ and 198 lbs he would join only one other defensive back since the 2000 combine at that size with those numbers. In 28 games (15 starts), has 93 tackles (65 solo), 3.5 tackles for loss, four interceptions, three forced fumbles and six pass breakups. Has three touchdown returns in his career, running back a blocked punt, an interception (off a lateral from a teammate) and a fumble for scores.
LB K.J. Britt – 6’0″ 239 lbs
First Team All-SEC in 2019. Voted his team’s top linebacker by the running backs and offensive linemen he went up against all week at the Senior Bowl. Following the 2019 season Mel Kiper had Britt as the third best inside linebackers for the 2021 draft. According to PFF Britt was the best run-stuffing linebacker in college football in 2019 with a grade of 91.1 and 31 solo run stops.
IOL Sadarius Hutcherson – 6’4″ 320 lbs
Hutcherson made Bruce Feldman’s list of college football freaks for two consecutive years in 2019 and 2020. “The 320-pounder also has impressive athleticism as reflected by his 31.5-inch vertical jump,” Feldman wrote. Since 2000 only 18 offensive linemen that weighed 320+ lbs had a vertical jump of 31.5 or better. in 2019 he made the list for his efforts in the weight room. Hutcherson was the team’s best offensive lineman. He started all 10 games in 2020 and made 39 career starts, most on the squad, including 36-consecutive starts. He made PFF’s 2020 All-SEC second team.
