South Carolina’s Nyck Harbor lands No. 1 spot on college football ‘Freaks List’
South Carolina football freshman Nyck Harbor has landed the No. 1 spot on Bruce Feldman’s annual “Freaks List.”
Feldman, a national college football insider for The Athletic, has compiled this list of college football players with “freakish” athletic traits for 20 years. Previous Gamecocks to make the list include quarterback Luke Doty in 2021 and Sadarius Hutcherson in 2019 and 2020. But neither of them held the top spot.
“In two decades of doing this, I don’t think I’ve ever had a true freshman No. 1,” Feldman wrote at the top of Harbor’s section, “but this player is different.”
What makes Harbor “different” is the combination of his large size and unadulterated speed. He stands at 6-foot-5, 243 pounds. Add onto that the five-star signee’s 10.2-second 100-meter time — and you get freakish.
Upon seeing Harbor in person during his Michigan visit last fall, Feldman wrote that he thought the young man looked more like a power forward than a potential Olympic sprinter. He looks to compete in football as well as track and field while at South Carolina.
After Feldman asked tight ends coach Jody Wright to draw comparisons among Harbor, Julio Jones and Derrick Henry, Wright said: “I would say a taller Julio with a Derrick Henry-type build is a great comparison. He has the potential to develop into a mismatch nightmare with his size and speed.”
In high school, Harbor averaged 30 yards per catch in 2022 and 17 sacks in 2021. ESPN listed him as the No. 1 athlete in the country for the class of 2023.
This story was originally published August 15, 2023 at 10:10 AM.
