Four Michigan players on Bruce Feldman's 'freaks list,' including No. 1 Mazi Smith

Michigan Wolverines football has four of the top 100 ‘freaks’ in college football, according to The Athletic‘s Bruce Feldman on his annual ranking. The definition of a ‘freak,’ according to Merriam-Webster, is, “a person or animal having a physical oddity and appearing in a circus sideshow.” On the football field, standing out for possessing those unique traits is a good thing, of course.

The only other teams to have four players make appearances are Oregon and Wisconsin.

The premise of Feldman’s rankings is to “showcase guys who generate buzz inside their programs by displaying the rare physical abilities that wow even those who observe gifted athletes every day.”

Michigan’s players to land on the list are senior defensive tackle Mazi Smith at No. 1, graduate EDGE Julius Welschof at No. 7, senior cornerback DJ Turner at No. 36 and freshman defensive tackle Kenneth Grant at No. 46.

Michigan is no stranger to having ‘freaks,’ with Aidan Hutchinson standing No. 2 last season and Kwity Paye topping the list in 2020. Welschof was No. 33 in 2021, before moving up 26 spots.

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DT Mazi Smith: No. 1

Smith has garnered more hype than perhaps any Michigan player this offseason, and it’s for all the right reasons. He gained weight and is now up to 337 pounds but, according to one of our sources, has the most lean muscle mass on the team. He’s also taken on a bigger leadership role.

“His former teammate, Aidan Hutchinson, almost was our top guy in 2021, but this year a Wolverine is the No. 1 Freak in college football,” Feldman wrote. “The 6-foot-3, 337-pound senior has rare power and agility. So rare, in fact, it’s hard to find the right superlative to begin with.

“But let’s start with this: Smith does 22 reps on the bench press, but that’s with 325 (not 225). He close-grip benched 550 pounds. He vertical-jumps 44 inches. He broad-jumped 9-4 1/2. Smith, who had 37 tackles last season, has clocked a 4.41 shuttle time, which would’ve tied the best by any defensive tackle at this year’s NFL Scouting Combine, and it would’ve been better than any defensive tackle weighing 310 pounds or more in the past decade. His 6.95 3-cone time would’ve been by far the fastest among defensive tackles in Indianapolis. The fastest was 7.33. Smith’s 60-yard shuttle time is 11.90.

“The Wolverines do a reactive plyo stairs test, which is a series of seven 26-inch high stairs that players attempt to jump up as fast as possible. The team record is 2.21 seconds. Smith did it in 2.82. To better gauge just how impressive that is, Hutchinson, some 60 pounds lighter than Smith, did it in 2.57.

Even more remarkable: The Wolverines also do a workout on their combo-twist machine, which is designed to show a player’s ability to rotate an opponent but also their ability to resist being rotated in the trenches. Smith had the machine completely tapped out. There was only enough room for 300 pounds on each side of the machine for a 600-pound max.

“’For Mazi, it wasn’t even challenging,’ says one of the Wolverine strength coaches. A staffer called the manufacturer to see if there was a way to extend it, then ultimately contacted a private company to build custom extenders for the combo-twist, which made it capable of loading up to 800 pounds to accommodate Smith.

“‘Mazi’s rotational strength is ridiculous,’ said longtime Michigan strength coach Ben Herbert, who said Smith is the strongest defensive lineman he’s seen in 25 years in the business. ‘He is an incredible combination of rare traits packaged into one player. He is just ridiculously strong and powerful.’

EDGE Julius Welschof: No. 7

Welschof lost 22 pounds this offseason and is set to make an impact at EDGE, as opposed to defensive tackle, where he’s moving over from, this fall.

“Welschof has been on our radar since before he arrived at Michigan,” Feldman wrote. “European super scout Brandon Collier has been buzzing about him and his Freakish ability for years. Back then, Welschof was a 6-6, 220-pound former champion moguls skier from Germany doing backflips on his skis and walking 50 yards on his hands. Since arriving in Ann Arbor, Welschof has dazzled his teammates with his athleticism. Asked what the most impressive thing he’s ever seen Welschof do, standout cornerback DJ Turner said it’s an ankle mobility test that measures the flexibility in their lower legs.

“‘Usually people get like 12 inches. I was like 13 or 14. He got 23 inches,’ Turner said. ‘Stuff that he can do sometimes just doesn’t make sense — like what?!? How can he do that?’

“Technically, Welschof measured 22 inches on his right leg and 23 on his left. “From his skiing background with how his lower limbs function, he has tremendous range of motion,” Michigan strength coach Ben Herbert said. “His ankle mobility is ridiculous.”

“That’s just the start of it. ‘Juice,’ who has leaned down 22 pounds to 268, broad-jumps 10-5 consistently and vertical-jumped 34 1/2 inches this offseason. His 40 was 4.66. The most amazing numbers posted by former Wolverine Freak Aidan Hutchinson were his shuttle times. Hutchinson did 6.73 in the 3-cone drill in Indy (sixth fastest among all players there). Hutchinson clocked a 6.54 last offseason in Ann Arbor.

“Herbert said Welschof ran a 6.76 this offseason. He’s also done a 4.19 in the 20-yard shuttle — only Hutchinson’s 4.15 was faster among D-linemen and linebackers in Indy. Hutchinson was the first athlete Herbert ever witnessed do a ‘Turkish Get-Up’ with 135 pounds and no collars (to lock on the plates) in a quarter-century working in college weight rooms. This offseason, Welschof did it with a 160-pound dumbbell “like it was effortless.”

CB DJ Turner: No. 31

Turner will serve as one of Michigan’s top defensive players along with Smith this fall, with PFF and others naming him one of the top 10 cornerbacks in the nation (No. 6 on PFF’s list). He’s Michigan’s fastest player, too, per Feldman’s intel.

“A former three-star recruit who has made big strides in Ann Arbor, Turner’s grown from 177 pounds and now is up to 187 and is coming off a strong year,” Feldman wrote. “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 UM strength coaches think he has a good shot at besting the NFL combine record, which is a 6.28, set in 2018 by Oklahoma’s Jordan Thomas.”

DT Kenneth Grant: No. 46

And then there is Grant. After Feldman reported that Harbaugh said he runs a sub-5.0 40-yard dash at 450-ish pounds at Big Ten Media Days, we predicted he’d land on his list, and there he is in the top half.

“Remember this name,” Feldman said. “He was only ranked a three-star recruit coming out of Indiana, but he’s already generated a lot of buzz inside the Wolverines program in a few months there. At 6-4, 360, he ran a sub-5.0 40, Jim Harbaugh told The Athletic this month. Ben Herbert, the UM strength coach who has trained more than his share of Freaks, said Grant has ‘incredible traits’ and ‘is likely to be a No. 1 (Freak)’ down the line if he applies himself.

“Herbert said one of the tests is a 26-inch high reactive plyo staircase, on which [junior] receiver Roman Wilson recently set a Wolverine record, going 2.21. Aidan Hutchinson did it in 2.57, which was flying. When Grant first started, he posted impressive times for his massive size, going as low as 3.2, but after a few weeks, he’s done it as fast as 2.77. “Everyone about fell over when they saw that,” Herbert said.”