By Wendell Barnhouse
Big 12 Digital Correspondent Two writers compiled a list of football players who they consider to possess noteworthy physical abilities – their term is "freaks." In terms of strength, speed and quickness, that's a good word. And the Big 12 was well-represented with one school credited with two different "freakiest" athletes.
Bruce Feldman of FOX Sports annually compiles his list of freaky athletes. His top 25 had five Big 12 players. Here's his rankings of the Big 12 players with his explanation.
No. 1. Shawn Oakman, Baylor, DL
In 2014, Oakman emerged as a dominant force for the Bears, notching 11 sacks, 19.5 TFLs and three forced fumbles. The 6-9, 271-pounder has done some amazing things in the weight room, too. In May, he did a 40-inch box jump while holding a 70-pound dumbbell in each hand. Then, in the offseason,
he did four pull-ups despite having an additional 120 pounds harnessed to his waist.
"That's his deal," Baylor strength coach Kaz Kazadi said. "He can load that up. He'll put 120 pounds on there. He'd love to get there and put 200 pounds on there if he could, but he's gotta be smart. He's here to play football, not to display his knack."
Kazadi said Oakman has just 6 percent body fat and can vertical-jump 38 inches when he's fresh. "He looks Calvin Johnson-ish, but then you get up close to him and you see how huge he is. He's a 400-pound bencher and he's doing it with those long arms. He's a 600-pound squatter and he's doing it with those long legs."
As for what he expects Oakman to do at the NFL Combine next winter in the 40-yard dash: "I think he'll definitely go sub-4.7 if he feels good about it. I think he can go 4.6. We focus more on the 10 and the 20 here, but when he gets to that 40, he's got an extremely long stride. It'll be like three steps and he's done."
No. 4, Kolby Listenbee, TCU, WR: The fastest man in college football, the 6-1, 183-pound senior also was an honorable mention All-Big 12 wide receiver in 2014. He caught 41 passes for 753 yards and proved to be quite the big-game player, rolling up consecutive 100-yard receiving games against Oklahoma and Baylor. He also threw a 31-yard touchdown strike to Aaron Green on TCU's second play from scrimmage against Ole Miss in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and later had a 35-yard TD grab in the game.
Listenbee is the rare guy whose speed coming out of high school from the recruiting sites was actually undersold. Listed as a 4.5 40 guy, in June, he clocked a personal-record 10.03 seconds in the 100 meters to finish seventh at the NCAA nationals in Eugene, Ore.
"He's always been a lot faster than 4.5," coach Gary Patterson said. "Ask everyone in our conference."
No. 11, LaQuan McGowan, Baylor, TE
The mammoth senior caught a TD in the Cotton Bowl last year against Michigan State, sending McGowan off to cult hero status. Check out how easily McGowan hauls in
these one-hand grabs.
"He's got the coordination of a basketball player," Baylor strength coach Kaz Kazadi said.
Kazadi adds that the 6-7 McGowan has "slimmed down to 410," and that this offseason they timed the big man at 5.32 seconds in the 40. McGowan also is a 500-pound bencher, but the thing that has really wowed Kazadi is the super-sized tight end's endurance and how he held up at their most intense offseason Tuesday workouts.
"He did not miss a rep on one of our monster workouts," Kazadi said. "He gets a lot of credit for being a huge human being, but what he's done conditioning-wise to show his teammates how serious he was about this is the most impressive thing I've seen in a long time."
No. 13, Samaje Perine, Oklahoma, RB
The hulking 5-10, 230-pounder not only set an FBS record with 427 rushing yards against Kansas, he muscled his way to 1,713 yards and 21 TDs as part of spectacular freshman season. Teammates marvel at Perine's strength, as detailed in
this story from SoonerSports that includes the one about how the big back did 10 sets of 10 reps of 225. "He's probably the strongest person on the team, and that includes the offensive linemen," said center Ty Darlington.
Perine benches 440 and does 315 for 12 reps. He also power cleans 380, broad-jumps 10-0 and vertical-jumps 34.5 inches.
No. 24, Will Geary, Kansas State, NT
Another decorated high school wrestler, Geary won two consecutive state wrestling titles in the 285-pound class, and also was the 2013 national champion for the National High School Coaches Association. This guy arrived at K-State as a walk-on and immediately created a buzz inside the program on the scout team, where he more than held his own every day against the Wildcats' All-American center, B.J. Finney. Word is, no one - including Finney - could handle the 6 foot, 297-pound Geary. As a redshirt freshman in 2014, he won a starting job and led all Wildcat DTs with 30 tackles. The 20-year-old Geary already cleans 392 pounds to go with a 425 bench and can squat 640 (going to parallel.)
Meanwhile, over at NFL.com, CFB24/7 contributor Mike Hugenin put together his list of the top 15 "freakish athletes" – players who wow you with their physical gifts. He had two Big 12 players in his top five.
He placed TCU junior Cameron Echols-Luper, a wide receiver who could shift to cornerback this season, at No. 5: "Echols-Luper won the Big 12 indoor long jump title and was fourth in the league in the event in the outdoor meet. He also qualified for the final in the 200 meters at the outdoor meet (his qualifying time would've won the final). Echols-Luper also is part of TCU's national runner-up 4x100 relay team (as is WR Colby Listenbee). His dad, Curtis Luper, is TCU's running backs coach; Cameron went to high school in Alabama because at the time, Curtis was an Auburn assistant.
And Hugenin chose a different Bear – junior wide receiver Corey Coleman - as his No. 1. Wrote Hugenin:
"Baylor is loaded with guys who could've made this list. … our choice is Coleman, who takes a back seat to no one: a time of 4.38 in the 40, a clocking of 6.62 seconds in the three-cone drill (that would've led all WRs at this year's NFL Scouting Combine), an incredible 45-inch vertical and an 11-foot-3 broad jump. His athleticism carries over to the field: He averaged 17.5 yards on 64 receptions and had 11 TD catches last season."