Too big. Too small. The 2023 NFL draft could be historic in many ways, with the likely first overall pick being just one of several outliers that stand out in this year’s class.
Alabama quarterback Bryce Young, the presumptive No. 1 pick in Friday’s [AEST] draft, is a physical outlier like few others in his position at 5-foot-10 and 204 pounds.
It would make him the lightest first-round quarterback since at least 2006 and even then, you also have to keep in mind that was Young’s weight at the combine. His actual playing weight is closer to 194 pounds.
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Young though is just one of many prospects poised to break the mould, with this year’s draft class also including a much bigger quarterback who is “built like an outside linebacker”.
Then there is a tight end who is the closest thing to LeBron James if the Lakers superstar made the switch to the NFL and a 5-foot-5 running back with an underrated superpower.
Here, foxsports.com.au profiles some of the biggest physical freaks and outliers in this year’s NFL draft.
ANTHONY RICHARDSON (Quarterback, Florida)
Let’s start out with the biggest freak of them all, Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson who has been called “superhuman” and a “human highlight machine” by his teammates.
Richardson put on a show at the NFL combine this year, running an official 4.43-second 40-yard dash at 244 pounds while recording a 40.5-inch vertical.
With it, Richardson became the first quarterback to run a sub 4.5-second dash while weighing 230 or more pounds. Put simply, someone of Richardson’s size (6-foot-4, 244 pounds) should not move that fast, irrespective of position.
Sure, he’s not guaranteed to be a generational quarterback by any means given the question marks over his accuracy and passing game in general.
But mobile quarterbacks like Jalen Hurts and Justin Fields have proven just how valuable powerful and athletic signal-callers can be in the modern NFL. Richardson could be even better in that respect.
Bruce Feldman of The Athletic described Richardson as a “rare athlete” in his list of the top-100 college football freaks for the 2022 season.
“We never have many quarterbacks on this list, but this is a rare athlete,” Feldman wrote.
Florida strength coach Mark Hocke told The Athletic that Richardson is “physically built like an outside linebacker”.
“Has the athleticism (speed and agility) and bounce (plays above the rim) of a running back/wide receiver combined with a Jugs machine for an arm,” Hocke added.
Ask Richardson though and he won’t shy away from the lofty expectations, telling ESPN that he tells people he is “not from Earth”.
“A lot of people say I’m a different breed,” Richardson said.
“I always tell people I’m not from Earth. I’m gifted, I’m talented. I feel like God made me different, and I just try to use that in my daily life.”
Richardson played just one season with the Gators as their full-time starter, breaking 39 tackles (fourth-most in FBS) and finishing with six career runs of 45-plus yards.
DARNELL WASHINGTON (Tight End, Georgia)
Teams are spoiled for top-tier tight end talent in this year’s draft, headlined by Utah’s Dalton Kincaid and Notre Dame’s Michael Mayer.
But Darnell Washington out of Georgia is the most unique of the lot, boasting a 6-foot-7, 270-pound frame and 83 3/4-inch wingspan — the largest ever for a tight end at the combine.
To put that in perspective, The Ringer’s Danny Heifetz wrote: “If you’ve ever wondered what LeBron James would have looked like as a tight end, Darnell Washington is about as close as you’ll get”.
Washington has a freakish combination of size, strength, and athleticism that makes him a threat as both a blocker and pass catcher.
The three-year starter at Georgia did not get much experience as a pass catcher though, receiving half the number of targets as Brock Bowers, who is not draft-eligible until 2024.
If Washington can prove himself as a pass catcher though, he will be a quarterback’s best friend with an elite catch radius and wingspan.
“He will be perhaps the biggest target in NFL history,” wrote Heifetz.
“I feel like I have lots of untouched talent when it comes to that area,” Washington said.
“In high school I was getting the ball 60 times a season. From that, coming to college and not so much in that area. When I tap into that potential, that’s going to be crazy to see.”
Washington’s 4.08-second short shuttle was the third best among all participants at this year’s combine and the quickest time among tight ends.
Dane Brugler of The Athletic described him as “the leanest 270-ish pounds I have ever seen on a football field”.
“He is a one-of-one talent with fascinating pro potential because of his rare length, play strength and body flexibility at his size,” added Brugler.
Washington, meanwhile, said he believes he is the “most unique tight end” in this year’s class.
“I’m not saying I’m the best,” he added.
“I’m very humble. It’s just when you talk about size, I’m bigger, heavier than most of the tight ends. You’ll just have to see the 40.”
Washington ended up running a 4.64-second dash (sixth among tight ends).
DEUCE VAUGHN (Running back, Kansas State)
We’re going from one extreme to another. Unlike the enormous Washington, running back Deuce Vaughn (5-foot-5) made history as the shortest player ever measured at the combine.
It would be easy to dismiss him as too short to make much of an impact in the NFL but Vaughn still has plenty of size to him at 179 pounds.
It helped him make four plays of 60-plus yards in the 2022 season while Vaughn was also the FBS leader in all-purpose yards (1,936).
In fact, Vaughn wasPro Football Focus’ highest-graded (84.5 and 93.4) running back on the field in both 2020 and 2021, breaking 107 tackles and scoring 27 times on 525 carries.
Sam Robinson, Vaughn’s coach at Cedar Ridge High School, said the running back has a superpower — he gets “so freaking low”.
So low that The Athletic’s Max Olson wrote that you have to “dive” to tackle him.
Speaking to Olson, Cedar Ridge quarterback Jalen Brown referenced a play against Langham Creek from their junior year where Vaughn hit a hole and then came to a crowd of defenders.
“Brown figured the play was over,” Olson wrote.
“But Vaughn absorbed a hit, stumbled out of the pile, juked out a safety and found the end zone.”
Brown described it as “one of the craziest things” he had seen the running back do.
“He can break so many tackles being that small,” the quarterback added.
QUENTIN JOHNSTON (Wide receiver, TCU)
Standing at 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds, this wide receiver out of TCU has all the physical traits to be a success in the NFL.
And in a class full of smaller wide receivers, headlined by fellow potential first-round pick Zay Flowers, Johnston certainly stands out.
In fact, forget wide receivers — PFF’s Mike Renner said on The Athletic Football Show’s ‘Prospects to Pros’ that he believes Johnston’s “high-end is higher than anyone else in this class”.
Fellow PFF writer Mitch Kaiser, meanwhile, described Johnston as “one of the freakiest college athletes at wide receiver in recent memory”.
So, what is that makes Johnston such a freak athlete? Well, Johnston is actually one of the more intriguing prospects as there are question marks over whether the hype is warranted.
Johnston does do plenty of things well, using his size and speed to stretch the field vertically and make big plays on 50-50 balls as arguably the best deep threat in this year’s class.
The 21-year-old flashed his athleticism at this year’s combine even if he didn’t run, recording a 40.5-inch vertical jump and 11-feet, two-inch broad jump.
Once some official running times did come through though, they weren’t exactly amazing and when combined with doubts over his drops in the 2022, there is some level of scepticism.
“I will watch reps of him and just be in awe of what a man [he is] — 6-foot-3, 210-ish pounds, what he can do from an explosiveness standpoint, I think he’s unique in that regard,” Renner said.
“And then you’ll watch him alligator arm one over the middle and watch him get bodied to the sideline… he’s one that I go back and forth on.”
“The jumps were amazing at his Combine and then at the pro day, 6’3 212, his two 40s were both in the low 45s, his three-cone was 7.31 — that’s not good,” added The Athletic’s Dane Bruger, referencing those official running times.
“You look at the receivers in the NFL, even the bigger guys, they’re a lot better than that. The short shuttle was 4.28. The testing was not what I think we expected and I feel like so much of the hype and oxygen that has been talked about Quentin Johnston has been about the testing and the jumps were you great but everything else was pretty average, which for a guy [where] you’re betting on the traits and betting on what he’s going to look like in two years, that makes it tough.”
JALEN CARTER (Defensive tackle, Georgia)
Jalen Carter is one of, if not the most, talented prospects in this year’s draft class with the Georgia defensive tackle a chance of going inside the top five picks.
Carter has been a dominant force in Georgia’s championship-winning defence over the last two seasons, recording 15.5 tackles for loss and six sacks across the period.
But at 6-foot-3 and 310 pounds, it is Carter’s athleticism and fluidity at that size that make him a particularly tantalising prospect.
“Carter is the sort of guy where you watch him for five or 10 plays and go, ‘310 pounders don’t move like this,” Ben Solak said on the ‘Around the NFL’ podcast.
“This isn’t real. This has been doctored. This is AI footage. This is a guy with double-digit sack potential from the interior.”
The argument against Carter, at least on the field, is his snap count but with the right conditioning he has the potential to be a top-five player in his position.
Carter’s coach at Apopka High School, Rick Darlington, spoke in depth to ESPN last year about the incredible tales that spoke to the explosive prospect’s freakish athletic ability.
“He was just a freaky talented athlete,” Darlington said.
“I know he’s a great defensive lineman in college, but he could 360 dunk a basketball and probably had the best hands I’ve ever seen on a guy that size.
“He wasn’t your typical athlete; he was a great athlete in a lineman’s body.”
CALIJAH KANCEY (Defensive tackle, Pittsburgh)
The Pittsburgh defensive tackle has been drawing comparisons to Aaron Donald and it’s not hard to see why. Of course, first there’s the Pitt connection.
Then there’s the fact Kancey made history at the combine, running a 4.67-second 40-yard dash, the fastest time by a defensive tackle since 2003.
The previous record holder? You guessed it — Aaron Donald.
But as The Ringer’s Ben Solak pointed out on ‘The Play Sheet’, the fact that Kancey can run a blistering 40-yard dash is not necessarily going to be a huge advantage on the field.
Sure, his initial quickness off the mark will allow Kancey to win at the snap but the bigger concern surrounds his size.
Kancey will be the first defensive tackle with a sub-74-inch wingspan to be drafted over the last 10 years while his arms (30 5/8 inches) are the second-shortest of all defensive tackles at the combine over the same period.
“Regardless of where he is selected he will be a groundbreaking player when he enters the NFL,” Solak said.
“Kancey is just generally a really small defensive linemen. He’s second-percentile in terms of height and he’s fourth-percentile in terms of weight for defensive tackles. The exchange is that Kancey ran a screaming 4.67 40-yard dash, an unbelievable time for a defensive tackle.
“Running really fast over 40 years doesn’t really matter for defensive tackles. It’s nice to have a good 10-yard split… and there’s where he wins — off-ball explosiveness, the first step. “However, what really matters here is the arm length. If you’re going to play in the trenches and especially if you’re going to play in the trenches with a size deficiency, you have to be able to hold your ground.
“You have to be able to fight power for power. If a guy gets his hand on you, he can’t just control you and choose where you go. For a player who’s stubby like Kancey, that’s unfortunately a huge worry.”
NOLAN SMITH (Edge rusher, Georgia)
Nolan Smith is a supreme athlete at outside linebacker, recording a 1.52-second 10-yard split, 4.39-second 40 and 41.5-inch vertical that topped front-seven defenders at the combine.
Smith played just eight games with Georgia last season but is clearly a popular member of the squad if the viral video of his teammates reacting to his 40-yard dash is anything to go by.
According to NFL Network, Smith (238 pounds) was the heaviest player to record a sub-4.40 and greater than 40-inch vertical at the combine.
But Smith is a draft outlier for another reason. At 238 pounds, he is set to be the lightest edge-rusher drafted in the first round since Haason Reddick in 2017, according to PFF.
And before Reddick was Florida edge defender Huey Richardson all the way back in 1991.
“This is the sort of body type and athletic profile that years ago was going to be carrying 230 pounds and was going to be playing wide receiver,” Ben Solak said on the ‘Around the NFL’ podcast.
“Instead, he’s 240 pounds and playing pass rusher. The enthusiasm this guy has for defending the run at his size is really sick. It’s awesome to see and it gives you hope he’s going to be able to hang on the edge at the NFL level.”
