Utah Utes working again Micah Bernard (2) finds a gap within the line as BYU and Utah play an NCAA soccer sport at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021. BYU gained 26-17, ending a nine-game shedding streak to the Utes. Scott G Winterton, Deseret Information
Every year for nearly the final 20, The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman has compiled an inventory of the most important “freaks” in school soccer earlier than the season begins.
Feldman writes that his aim is “to highlight the gamers who generate buzz inside their applications by displaying the distinctive bodily skills that wow even those that observe gifted athletes daily,” and he signifies that he enlists the assistance of a giant group of individuals to compile his listing.
Feldman’s 2022 listing of 100 gamers was launched Wednesday, and two with Utah ties are on it — former highschool star Noah Sewell, who now performs linebacker for the Oregon Geese, and Utah Utes working again Micah Bernard.
Sewell got here in at No. 42, and Bernard is No. 70. Michigan Wolverines defensive sort out Mazi Smith tops the listing.
After noting Sewell’s stats final season following a 2020 marketing campaign during which he was the Pac-12 Freshman Defensive Participant of the 12 months, Feldman wrote, “The 6-2, 260-pound junior has nice motion abilities, topping out at 20.85 mph on the GPS. He additionally bench pressed 425 this offseason, did 655 kilos on the sumo deadlift and power-cleaned 345.”
As for Bernard, Feldman wrote of his emergency fill-in at cornerback within the Rose Bowl on New 12 months’s Day, after which after citing his stats from final season, wrote, “The 6-0, 202-pound sophomore broad-jumped 10-91⁄2, clocked 4.42 within the 40 and vertical-jumped 381⁄4. Teammate Clark Phillips gushed about Bernard’s Freak credentials, stating the man who's barely 6 ft can do 360 dunks.”