Every year, The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman publishes his College Football Freaks List. This list garners data from college programs and highlights the players that are wowing the staff both on and off the gridiron. In year’s past, we saw names like Saquon Barkley, Jonathan Taylor, Noah Fant, and Todd Gurley, among a long list of defensive studs and offensive line standouts namely Myles Garrett and Jadeveon Clowney. We can garner a lot of information from the list that Bruce puts out, especially in deeper devy and Campus to Canton leagues. Let’s dive into the 2020 College Football Freaks List.
In this series, we will identify a high-value devy player who will likely maintain their high value or rise further. A middling valued player who you can steal and reap the big returns once they test at the NFL Combine, or their pro-day. As well as a sleeper who with a good season of production could return a serious increase in value.
Top-Tier
Master Teague III, Ohio State, Running Back
Teague will be rehabbing an Achilles injury before the start of the 2020 season, which makes him a sneaky pick in both Devy and Campus to Canton formats as he could see a major uptick in value in a delayed start to the CFB season. As a redshirt freshman, Teague played a very nice Robin to J.K. Dobbins’ batman as he scored four TDs and racked up 789-yards on the ground on only 135 carries. Teague was not completely overshadowed last season as he did earn third-team All Big Ten honors. Feldman reports that Teague can fly with a 4.35-second 40-yard dash along with dazzle with his explosiveness. Teague can reportedly jump out of the gym with a 40+ inch vertical and 11’ broad jump. If we are to superimpose Dobbin’s workload to Teague we would be looking at a 1,750-yard season with eight TDs. Combine that with the reported testing numbers and Teague will be a darling at next seasons NFL Combine.
Middle Tier
Anthony Schwartz, Auburn, Wide Receiver
Schwartz had a decent sophomore season in 2019 with 41 catches for 440-yards and one TD. With everyone expecting Bo Nix to develop as a passer, many are looking to Seth Williams as the receiver with upside, whereas Schwartz may have just as much upside in the Auburn offense. Schwartz ran the 100-meter dash just half a second slower than Usain Bolt. Schwartz is a gadget player, like a low-volume Tavon Austin due to the Auburn offensive style. If an NFL coach believes that they can take him away from the track and mold him to an NFL player, he may be a very interesting best ball asset.
Sleeper
Jalen Camp, Georgia Tech, Wide Receiver
Georgia Tech has produced some freaky athletes in the NFL, namely Calvin Johnson, Demaryius Thomas, and Darren Waller. Jalen Camp may be the next freaky athlete coming out of Georgia Tech. Standing 6’3” and 223 lbs. Camp can put up 30 reps of 225 lbs. on the bench and run a 4.4-second 40-yard dash. With the ACC scheduled to play this season, Camp can have the opportunity to put together a healthy and productive season which would open the door for him to show off his explosiveness at the NFL Combine.
Bonus Sleeper!
Mike Martinez, UCLA, Tight End
In his freshman season, Martinez did not make much of an impact on the field with only three catches for 39-yards. With Devin Asiasi being drafted to the New England Patriots, the opportunities for Martinez at UCLA should expand dramatically. What is truly freaky about Martinez is he has an 86” wingspan and an insane 12.5” hand size. Comparatively, Rob Gronkowski has 10.75” hands, DeForest Buckner has the record with 11.75” hands. Martinez’s hands are also larger than Shaq and Giannis reported hand sizes in the NBA. Martinez established himself as a good blocker and with that catch radius, he is going to be a combine favorite if he enters the draft in 2022 or 2023.
Thank you for reading my article! If you enjoyed it, keep an eye out for my future articles. You can also follow me on Twitter @DynastyDiagnos1 and reach out with any questions, comments, or ideas you’d like me to explore for a new article.
Loved Part Five? Check out Parts One, Two, Three, and Four of the 2020 College Football Freaks!
