Two Notre Dame football players featured on The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman’s Freaks List
Notre Dame can say it has two of the 101 freakiest athletes in college football on its roster. On Tuesday, The Athletic senior writer Bruce Feldman dropped his highly anticipated Freaks List after gathering submissions from schools, coaches, teammates, parents, NFL scouts, combine trainers and agents.
Irish defensive lineman Rylie Mills checked in at No. 27, and graduate transfer wide receiver Beaux Collins claimed the No. 36 spot on Feldman’s list. He also gave linebacker Jaylen Sneed a special mention for a 38½-inch vertical and a 10-foot, 2½-inch broad jump.
Mills is a familiar name on Feldman’s Freaks List, which began in 2005. Last year, he was the 10th player Feldman mentioned. In addition to Mills, Irish cornerback Cam Hart (No. 32) and defensive lineman Javontae Jean-Baptiste (No. 82) made the cut. Both were selected in the 2024 NFL Draft in the spring.
Here are more details on Feldman’s findings, which helped him determine Mills and Collins’ positioning on the 2024 Freaks List.
27. Notre Dame defensive lineman Rylie Mills
According to Feldman, Mills bench presses 445 pounds and squats 580. His vertical reached 32 inches, and had a 9-foot broad jump.
To put Mills’ testing numbers into further context, his vertical would have tied him for third among defensive tackles at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine. His broad jump would have tied for 12th place.
Last season, Mills started all 13 games and had a career-high 47 tackles (22 solo). The 6-5, 195-pounder also pounced on the quarterback 2.5 times and had 5.5 tackles for loss.
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Mills returned to the Irish for a fifth season after considering declaring for the 2024 NFL Draft. With another strong season, he figures to hear his name called in next year’s draft.
36. Notre Dame wide receiver Beaux Collins
Despite being unable to officially join the program in full capacity until late spring because he was enrolled at Clemson to complete his degree, Feldman said Collins posted “dazzling” offseason testing numbers.
His vertical jump was 41½ inches, and he registered a 10-foot, 11½-inch mark in the broad jump. Collins’ vertical would have been fourth among wide receivers at this year’s NFL Combine, while his broad jump would have ranked fifth.
Before transferring to Notre Dame, Collins played in 32 games for Clemson. He totaled 91 receptions for 1,290 yards and 11 touchdowns. He was one of three graduate transfer wide receivers the Irish added this offseason, joining Florida International product Kris Mitchell and Marshall standout Jayden Harrison.
