Michigan's Rashan Gary named college football's biggest athletic freak

Orion Sang | Detroit Free Press

Meet college football’s No. 1 "freak": Michigan defensive end Rashan Gary.

Gary topped college football guru Bruce Feldman’s annual list of players with outstanding physical abilities. Last year’s edition ranked former Penn State running back Saquon Barkley No. 1. The year before that, it was former Texas A&M defensive end Myles Garrett. This year, it’s Gary, the rising junior defensive end who started all 13 games for Michigan last fall.

“The No. 1 overall prospect in the 2016 recruiting class hasn’t disappointed,” Feldman wrote in The Athletic. “He made first-team All-Big Ten as a sophomore in 2017 after producing 66 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, six sacks and seven quarterback hurries.

“The 6-foot-5 Gary is at the same weight he was at this time last year — 287 pounds — and his 40-yard dash time is the same at 4.57 seconds. His 3-cone drill at 6.79 was a touch behind last year’s 6.70, although his time this year still would beat every defensive lineman at this year’s NFL scouting combine. His 4.22 pro agility shuttle time also would top every D-lineman at the combine. Next best was 4.32. Another really impressive feat: his 10-4 broad jump, which was 8 inches better than what he did a year ago.”

I don't know if I like my son being called a freak. But in this context, I can live with it. #ProudMomma #RahGary #GoBlue3 https://t.co/DPm3yNhRvA — Jennifer Shepherd (@jfeeshan) July 13, 2018

Feldman ranked Gary ahead of several other Big Ten players, including Wisconsin nose tackle Olive Sagapolu, Iowa tight end Noah Fant and Ohio State defensive end Nick Bosa, among others.

It’s not the first time Gary has been praised this offseason. Sports Illustrated ranked him No. 9 on its list of the top 100 players in college football. Sporting News named him a second team preseason All-American. And most expect Gary to be a first-round draft pick whenever he leaves for the NFL.

More: Michigan's defensive line may be outstanding with Rashan Gary as star

For now, though, he isn’t thinking about the next level.

“I don’t know, I’ve just been focused on trying to win a national championship. I need that,” Gary told the Free Press earlier this summer. “Me and (Devin) Bush (Jr.), and our whole 2016 class, we’ve talked about that. Winning that national championship. That’s something I need a taste of.”