One of my favorite reads every year is Bruce Feldman's "Freak's List". Three Buckeyes made the list this year with Marv narrowly missing the top spot.
#2 Marvin Harrison Jr., Wide Receiver
There isn’t a better player in college football right now, regardless of position. Last year, he caught 77 passes for 1,263 yards and 14 touchdowns. In five games against top-15 opponents (vs. No. 11 Utah in the Rose Bowl, No. 5 Notre Dame, No. 13 Penn State, No. 3 Michigan and No. 1 Georgia), he had 33 receptions for 538 yards and six touchdowns. At 6-4, 208, the son of a Pro Football Hall of Fame receiver is remarkably gifted. He has everything.
He’s very strong — he bench presses 380 pounds and did 20 reps of 225 on the bench and squatted 500. He’s very explosive, having broad-jumped 10 feet 8, and he’s really sudden, having clocked a 3.94 in the shuttle and improved on his max velocity from last year, up to 23.5 MPH. Asked for what training result he’s most proud of, he says it’s his 5-10-5, given his height and weight, yet still can run a sub-4-second time.
He tells The Athletic he’ll run in the high 4.3s at the NFL Scouting Combine next spring.
“My diet has gotten pretty strict,” he says of the changes he’s made to keep sharpening his game. “I try not to eat too much sugar. I removed mostly dairy out of my diet. Just preparing myself to try and live that pro life and taking care of myself.”
#20 Sonny Styles, Safety
The son of former Buckeye-turned-Super Bowl champ Lorenzo Styles is big enough to play defensive end at most schools. He had nine tackles and one TFL in 280 snaps in 2022 — the second-most snaps among all OSU true freshmen last season behind Caden Curry’s 300.
“Sonny is the next one,” says teammate Marvin Harrison Jr. “For one, he’s 18. Very young, but he’s really, really fast and probably just as strong as anyone in that weight room.”
Styles is 6-5, 228 pounds and broad-jumps 11 feet. He vertical-jumped 39 inches this offseason and squatted 600 pounds. He also ran the 40 in the high 4.4s and hit 22 MPH on the GPS.
Remember his name this fall.
#37 Chip Trayanum, Running Back
The versatile Buckeye made 13 tackles as a linebacker and then, when injury hit the OSU offense, shifted to running back and gained 83 of his 92 rushing yards in the Michigan game. The 5-11, 233-pound senior had run for 10 touchdowns in his two seasons as a power back at ASU before transferring to Columbus. Trayanum is a big, strong, explosive dude.
He bench-pressed 415 and squatted 650 this offseason, but he also ran a 40 in the high 4.3s and had a max velocity of 22.2 MPH.
And as a bonus...
#82 Javontae Jean-Baptiste
The Ohio State transfer, who had 11 TFLs and eight sacks in 45 games with the Buckeyes, should give the Irish D-line depth a big boost.
The 6-4 1/2, 260-pounder broad-jumped 10-5 this offseason and vertical-jumped 35 inches. On the GPS, he hit 20.4 MPH. Even more impressive, Jean-Baptiste did 45 pull-ups.
