Nyck Harbor tops Feldman's Freaks List, Nick Emmanwori debuts on it
For the second-straight year South Carolina wide receiver and track speedster Nyck Harbor topped national college football writer Bruce Feldman’s Freaks List — and this year another Gamecocks athlete joined him on the annual preseason list.
Harbor, who is the first player to be No. 1 on the list in back-to-back years, is joined by South Carolina junior defensive back Nick Emmanwori, who checks in at No. 11.
Feldman, now with The Athletic, for nearly 20 years has been putting out the Freaks List, which serves as an annual celebration of college football’s best and freakiest athletes. What started as a list of 10, has grown to 101 players.
Here’s what Feldman said of Harbor:
In 20 years of the Freaks List, Harbor is our first back-to-back No. 1 player. The 6-5, 242-pound sophomore, who turned 19 in July, cemented his status on this list when he ran a 10.1 100 and 20.20 in the 200 for the Gamecocks’ track team, earning second-team All-America honors. Despite being as big as some defensive linemen, Harbor is ridiculously fast. As one track coach reminded me, Harbor is competing in NCAA track meets against athletes who are 60 and 70 pounds lighter than him. Harbor looks like a video game creation, which was backed up by EA Sports giving him the rare 99 speed and 99 acceleration rating.
He’s still quite raw, but he did start five games in 2023, catching 12 passes for 195 yards and a touchdown. Harbor didn’t go through spring practice with the Gamecocks. He was with the track team full time until June, but he figures to become a bigger factor for football in 2024.
“He’s worked hard to become a better wide receiver,” coach Shane Beamer said.
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Emmanwori debuts on the list this year and GamecockCentral argued last year that he should have been on it then too.
The junior safety from nearby Irmo, S.C. has been one of the best overall athletes on the South Carolina football team since the moment he arrived on campus.
Said Feldman:
He may have only been a three-star prospect in 2022, but the Gamecocks got a real gem in Emmanwori. The 6-3, 227-pound junior has made a ton of plays in his first two seasons in the SEC and put up spectacular numbers this offseason. Emmanwori broad-jumped 11-4, vertical-jumped 42 inches, did 24 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press and squatted 565 pounds. And he is still only 20 years old.
“He is an absolute freak,” Beamer said. “He’s 227 pounds, and he runs close to 23 mph.”
As a true freshman, Emmanwori led the team with 85 tackles, including 14 against No. 1 Georgia. Last year, he continued to blossom, finishing with 71 tackles, eight pass breakups, a pair of interceptions and one quarterback hurry. And he put up double-digit tackles against Georgia again, with 10.
A couple of names South Carolina fans are familiar with also made the list this year.
Former Gamecock Jordan Burch, going into his second year at Oregon, is No. 10. Vanderbilt transfer wide receiver Jayden McGowan, who was at one time committed to South Carolina as a transfer but ended up at Boston College, checks in at No. 98.
Back in Columbia, the Gamecocks are now four practices into their preseason slate as they prepare for their season opener against Old Dominion.
