A pair of Michigan Wolverines have been named to Bruce Feldman’s Freaks List — one of them a returning member, and one of them an international player who is making the list for the first time while only playing in 1 game last year:
You know it’s almost college football season when Bruce Feldman of The Athletic releases his annual Freaks List .
In case you are unfamiliar, Feldman puts together a list of the Top-101 athletic players in the country, selected on intel he picks up from coaches, schools, teammates, parents, NFL scouts, NFL combine trainers, and agents.
To no one’s surprise, Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith is No. 1 heading into the 2025 season. But two players made it on the list for the Michigan Wolverines this year, and the first guy was also on it in 2024.
No. 35 – TE Marlin Klein
What Feldman said: “The TE from Germany made the Freaks List last year (No. 90). In 2024, he started six games and caught 13 passes for 108 yards and was named Most Improved Player on offense. The 6-6, 250-pound junior, who has hit 21.75 mph, broad jumped 9-7. This offseason, Klein ran a 6.89 in the three-cone drill. His former teammate Colston Loveland did it at 6.94 last offseason, and no tight end at this year’s combine did it quicker than that. Klein’s shuttle time of 4.25 this offseason would’ve been the fastest by any tight end at the combine.”
MnB’s take: Klein is a player on the rise following the departure of Colston Loveland to the NFL this offseason. A lot is being expected of him in 2025 as TE1, and if he isn’t hearing about it in person, he may have heard it via the In The Trenches podcast this offseason.
“He and I have talked about this. It needs to be (the year it all comes together),” tight ends coach Steve Casula said on In The Trenches in June. “We’ve talked a lot about his ability and his potential. And I’ve said this publicly, I’ll say it again — Michigan’s starting tight end needs to be an NFL player. That’s what our history is. That’s what the level of expectation is. And that’s what he’s being held to.”
There are a ton of talented players in the room behind him — Hogan Hansen being the chief competition — so Klein will need to perform at a consistently high level to stay the Wolverines’ top option at tight end.
No. 62 – DL Manuel Beigel
What Feldman said: “A soccer player from Germany who didn’t pick up football until 2020, Biegel redshirted last season as a 6-5, 280-pounder. He has added 35 pounds and displayed “rare traits in both movement and strength and power,” said strength coach Justin Tress. “He weighs 315 pounds and moves like a linebacker.” Beigel has uncanny flexibility in his lower body in his ankles, knees and hips, which is evident in how quickly and deep he goes squatting 425 pounds for three reps, Tress said.
“Beigel also rocketed up the reactive plyo stairs in 2.64 seconds, best of any offensive or defensive linemen in the program. Former All-American Aidan Hutchinson once did it in 2.57 seconds but he weighed 50 pounds less. Beigel isn’t the only Freaky Wolverine in the D-line room. Ike Iwunnah, a 6-3, 320-pound senior, is just the third player in Michigan history who has done 800 pounds on the combo twist, joining Mike Onwenu and 2022 Freaks Lister Mazi Smith. Iwunnah also completed the reactive plyo stairs in 2.75 seconds (Mazi Smith did it in 2.82 seconds).”
MnB’s take: A player that doesn’t get talked about very often, Beigel is heading into his redshirt freshman year in Ann Arbor. He played in just one game last season — making his debut against Arkansas State in Week 3 — and was also named the Scout Team Defensive Player of the Week for the Minnesota game.
Beigel is an extremely raw football player, but based on what Tress had to say to Feldman about the athletic traits that Beigel possesses, he may have a better shot at finding time on defense sooner than expected. The interior is pretty loaded right now with Rayshaun Benny, Damon Payne, Tre Williams, Enow Etta and others, but perhaps he can sneak his way into the rotation if other players just barely ahead of him on the depth chart aren’t performing at a high enough level.