The Bengals drafted a ton of freaks

[CJD]

From Bruce Feldman's annual "Freaks list."

Each year, Bruce Feldman looks at the most athletically gifted players in college football for the upcoming season and ranks them based on the "freakiest" players from an athletic or physical standpoint. His most recent list was prior to the 2022 season.

Something of note: This is in all of college football, not just in the particular draft class.

Of our 8 selections, 4 of them showed up on the Freaks list for 2022. The excerpts are below:

Quote:3. Myles Murphy, Clemson, defensive end
Murphy made 43 tackles, a team-high 14.0 tackles for loss, and a team-best seven sacks in 2021. The 6-5, 275-pound junior is viewed by NFL scouts as a “significantly better player” than former Tiger Clelin Ferrell, who went fourth overall in the 2019 draft. Murphy bench-presses 405 pounds, power-cleans 335 and deadlifts 505. He also has vertical-jumped 35 inches, broad-jumped 10 feet and consistently clocked in the high 4.5s in the 40, according to Clemson coaches.

Quote:31. DJ Turner, Michigan, cornerback
A former three-star recruit who has made big strides in Ann Arbor, Turner’s grown from 177 pounds to 187 and is coming off a strong year. He made honorable mention All-Big Ten after producing 33 tackles, nine PBUs and two interceptions. He is the fastest guy on the Wolverines, having hit 23.07 mph on the GPS and run a 4.28 40 — out of a two-point stance, no less. His 3-cone time is even more stunning. He clocked a 6.29 this offseason, and strength coaches think he has a good shot at besting the combine record of 6.28, set in 2018 by Oklahoma’s Jordan Thomas.

Quote:3. and 34. The Brown Twins, Illinois
We’re listing them together because I couldn’t decide who should be ranked higher. The Brown twins are from Ontario and the sons of a former CFL player and a figure skater.

Chase Brown, a 6-0, 207-pound running back, made the All-Big Ten third team in 2021 after rushing for 1,005 yards and five touchdowns. He added 4 pounds of lean muscle mass this summer while losing 3 pounds of fat. He also has reached 22.5 on the GPS on one of his long touchdown runs last year.

Sydney Brown, a 6-0, 211-pound safety, made All-Big Ten honorable mention in 2021, led Illinois with 81 tackles and also forced two fumbles. He added almost 6 pounds of lean muscle mass this summer while losing 1 pound of fat. He has also hit 22.4 mph on the GPS in-game.

“I’m addicted to seeing little results, no matter what it is,” Sydney said. “I’m in love with the process, whether it’s the diet or the workouts, the coaching tips that I get. That’s what really drives me. He’s a little more laid-back than I am. I’d just say we’re both very explosive in our own way.”

Quote:15. Andrei Iosivas, Princeton, wide receiver
One of the best players in the Ivy League also is one of the top track athletes in the country. On the field, the 6-3, 205-pound Hawaiian — his name is pronounced “Yoshi-vas” — had 41 catches for 703 yards. In track, he finished fourth in the country in the heptathlon and ran the fastest 60 in NCAA heptathlon history (6.71). Iosivas bench pressed 370 pounds this month and has vertical-jumped 39 inches. His 60-yard dash time would, by his own estimation, translate into a 4.2-something 40, but he points out that it was also out of the blocks and on a track, so maybe not. His position coach, Brian Flinn, predicts when Iosivas goes through the draft process and performs those tests he will “destroy them all. He trains year-around on how to start and sprint.” Iosivas bought a Jugs machine when he was quarantined during COVID to keep honing his skills.

Some interesting tidbits from these excerpts:

1. Myles Murphy did not do the broad jump in the off season and his vertical was only 31 inches. So he performed better leading up to the combine than he did at the combine. He did beat his 40 time of "high 4.5s" with a 4.53 though.
2. DJ Turner did not do the 3 cone at the combine, but this states that he could have potentially broken the record had he done it.
3. Iosivas' coach predicted he'd destroy the combine, and he did. Posting a 9.92 RAS.

I'm not sure why the first two did not test in these certain areas, but chances are if they did, we would not have gotten them where we did. If turner breaks the 3 cone record, chances are we aren't getting him at 60. So...that's great haha.