Post by Sons of Vaval on Aug 15, 2023 16:42:23 GMT -5
theathletic.com/4768413/2023/08/15/bruce-feldman-college-football-freaks-list/?source=user_shared_article
Dobbs at #30 —
30. Jacob Dobbs, Holy Cross, linebacker
He earned a spot on our top 100 last year and was having another terrific year before a Week 4 elbow injury ended his season. Dobbs suffered a dislocated elbow, which caused him to tear his forearm, UCL and triceps tendon, but his Freak athleticism probably helped him to recover in three months as opposed to the expected six-month time frame.
“I was able to return to all normal lifts at the end of January,” Dobbs says.
Since then, he’s improved on a lot of his previous bests. His 20-yard shuttle was a laser-timed 3.98 seconds. He vertical-jumped almost 39 inches. He ran a laser-timed 4.59 40 (it had been 4.65); did 315 pounds on the bench for 12 reps, squatted 595 pounds (up from 535) and cleaned 335 for four reps. His body fat also shrunk to 8.9 percent while weighing 237 pounds. The 6-foot linebacker with a 6-5 wingspan was ultra productive in 2021, making 137 tackles with 17.5 TFLs.
“I hope the three-month recovery and improvement in all those categories warrants a spot on the Freaks List for the 2023 season,” says Dobbs. It absolutely does.
—
Harvard’s Thor Griffith at #8
A former state champion wrestler and youth hockey standout who once was a member of the Boston Jr. Bruins that played in the famed 2011 Brick Tournament, where almost half of the 2019 NHL first round squared off, Griffith has emerged as a dominant force for the Harvard defense. In 2022, he piled up 12 TFLs and five sacks. “We haven’t blocked him in like two years,” one Ivy League coach told The Athletic this month, on the condition of anonymity for competitive reasons.
The 6-2, 320-pound powerhouse, who packed on 10 more pounds this offseason thanks to a diet, he says, of 6,000-8,000 calories a day, bench-pressed 225 pounds 45 times and improved his 40-time two-tenths of a second from a year ago, down to 4.95. His 10-yard split is 1.65 to go with a 4.57 pro shuttle time. To put that in perspective, Oklahoma’s Jalen Redmond, almost 30 pounds lighter, clocked the fastest time among defensive tackles at this year’s NFL combine, going 4.51 in the shuttle.
Thor says it was his dad’s idea to give him that name. “He’s big into comics, and I guess he had a little foresight too,” he says.
Dobbs at #30 —
30. Jacob Dobbs, Holy Cross, linebacker
He earned a spot on our top 100 last year and was having another terrific year before a Week 4 elbow injury ended his season. Dobbs suffered a dislocated elbow, which caused him to tear his forearm, UCL and triceps tendon, but his Freak athleticism probably helped him to recover in three months as opposed to the expected six-month time frame.
“I was able to return to all normal lifts at the end of January,” Dobbs says.
Since then, he’s improved on a lot of his previous bests. His 20-yard shuttle was a laser-timed 3.98 seconds. He vertical-jumped almost 39 inches. He ran a laser-timed 4.59 40 (it had been 4.65); did 315 pounds on the bench for 12 reps, squatted 595 pounds (up from 535) and cleaned 335 for four reps. His body fat also shrunk to 8.9 percent while weighing 237 pounds. The 6-foot linebacker with a 6-5 wingspan was ultra productive in 2021, making 137 tackles with 17.5 TFLs.
“I hope the three-month recovery and improvement in all those categories warrants a spot on the Freaks List for the 2023 season,” says Dobbs. It absolutely does.
—
Harvard’s Thor Griffith at #8
A former state champion wrestler and youth hockey standout who once was a member of the Boston Jr. Bruins that played in the famed 2011 Brick Tournament, where almost half of the 2019 NHL first round squared off, Griffith has emerged as a dominant force for the Harvard defense. In 2022, he piled up 12 TFLs and five sacks. “We haven’t blocked him in like two years,” one Ivy League coach told The Athletic this month, on the condition of anonymity for competitive reasons.
The 6-2, 320-pound powerhouse, who packed on 10 more pounds this offseason thanks to a diet, he says, of 6,000-8,000 calories a day, bench-pressed 225 pounds 45 times and improved his 40-time two-tenths of a second from a year ago, down to 4.95. His 10-yard split is 1.65 to go with a 4.57 pro shuttle time. To put that in perspective, Oklahoma’s Jalen Redmond, almost 30 pounds lighter, clocked the fastest time among defensive tackles at this year’s NFL combine, going 4.51 in the shuttle.
Thor says it was his dad’s idea to give him that name. “He’s big into comics, and I guess he had a little foresight too,” he says.
