Over the past several years Michigan football has had players with astounding freak athleticism, making them the biggest freaks in college football. But who have been the biggest freaks over the years?
The Michigan football team is no stranger to freak athletes, and over the past few years that has been on full display. Among the masses of college football players who excel in specific facets, a few Wolverines have proven to be incredibly multifaceted.
Mazi Smith
Smith is just about the definition of a “freak.” Simply put, the defensive tackle is a freak athlete given his size and skills. When Bruce Feldman of The Athletic published his 2022 iteration of the freaks list , Smith sat atop the rankings.
“The 6-foot-3, 337-pound senior has rare power and agility,” Feldman wrote. “So rare, in fact, it’s hard to find the right superlative to begin with.”
Smith is incredibly multifaceted, bearing incredible strength, speed and agility. He can close-grip bench 550 pounds and vertical-jump 33 inches, and he ran a 4.41-second shuffle time. As a senior, he was putting up times and scores that would have bested most participants in the NFL Combine.
Smith was a standout for Michigan throughout his collegiate career, appearing in 35 games and accumulating 88 tackles (39 solo). His achievements earned him an All-Big Ten consensus first-team selection in 2022 and an honorable mention the year prior. He was the Wolverines’ defensive player of the year in 2022.
Now with the Dallas Cowboys , Smith is approaching his second season in the NFL. In his rookie year, he started three games and had 13 tackles.
Kwity Paye
Similarly to Smith, Paye finished atop Feldman’s college football freaks list when he appeared on it in 2020 — and there’s certainly a reason why.
At 6-foot-4 and 265 pounds, Paye is a unicorn athlete with freak athletic ability. Specifically, his speed makes him stand out among other players. In the 2021 NFL Combine, his 4.57 40-yard dash time slotted him second among all defensive linemen, while his 36 bench presses tied for second-best and his vertical jump was seventh. Paye’s athleticism and abilities defy what his size should enable.
Paye proved how impactful his freak abilities were for the Wolverines, too. Appearing in 38 games, he totaled 100 tackles and 11.5 sacks in his four years at Michigan. In his sophomore season, he had 5.5 tackles for loss, and he doubled that the next season with 12.5 tackles for loss.
An injury limited to playing in just four games his senior year, but even in the short field time he saw, he proved how much of a freak athlete he was by tallying four tackles for loss and two sacks.
Aidan Hutchinson
At 6-foot-7 and 268 pounds, Hutchinson uniquely offers impressive strength and speed. There’s a reason he was Michigan’s star player in 2021, drafted second overall and is now shining in the NFL with the Detroit Lions .
During the NFL Combine Hutchinson lived up to the “freak” hype, with incredibly impressive numbers. For the 3-cone drill, Hutchinson’s 6.73-second time was the fastest time by any defensive lineman over 6-foot-5 since 2003. He also had a 4.74-second 40-yard dash and 4.15 short shuttle time. Some of his numbers compare to a receiver, not a defensive lineman.
Hutchinson was just as impressive at Michigan, serving as a unicorn for the Wolverines. He totaled 153 tackles, 25 tackles for loss and 15.5 sacks across his college career. There’s a reason Hutchinson was drafted second in the NFL Draft , and much of that has to do with how much of a freak he is.