Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Penn State Football

Freak show: See which PSU players made The Athletic’s Freaks list this season

Photo by Penn State Athletics: Brandon Smith

Bruce Feldman from The Athletic released his annual Freaks list for college football this morning, showcasing players with “rare physical abilities that wow even those who observe gifted athletes every day.”

Penn State had two players make this year’s list. Here’s what Feldman wrote about them, and their rankings in the top 100.

No. 32: LB Brandon Smith

Nittany Lion stars have been a staple on this list in recent years, with a bunch of guys touting remarkable numbers only to show up a year or two later at the combine to back them up and at times exceed them. The 6-3, 240-pound Smith, a former five-star recruit, stepped up when Micah Parsons opted out in 2020, leading the team with eight TFLs to go with 37 tackles. Smith’s explosiveness is in line with many of the recent Penn State standouts. He broad jumps 10-5 and verticals 36 inches. His 4.25 shuttle time also is very strong, as is his 335-pound clean.

Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.

Photo by Penn State Athletics: Jaquan Brisker

No. 76: S Jaquan Brisker

The latest in a strong line of recent Penn State Freaks. The 6-1, 203-pounder has clocked a head-spinning 4.07 shuttle. His vertical is 35 inches, and he’s also very strong for his size, benching 360 and cleaning 315. On the field, Brisker was an all-Big Ten third selection after making 57 tackles in 2020.

Click for more Nittany Sports Now coverage

Get NSN in your Inbox

Enter your email address to get notifications of new posts by email.

More from Nittany Sports Now

Penn State Wrestling

0s It appears that Penn State wrestling fans won’t have to wait long to see Masanosuke Ono make his debut. Speaking with Zach Seyko...

Penn State Football

0s It wasn’t the laugher that it loed to be early on, but Penn State closed out Washington 28-25 for the biggest win of...

Penn State Football

0s We now know when Penn State-Minnesota will kick off, and what channel the game will be on. The kickoff time will be 7...

Penn State Football

0s Less than an hour before Penn State kicked off against Washington, word got out that PSU legend and current color commentator Jack Ham had...