By Bane Rossi
August 15, 2023
CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati football team had three Bearcats earn mention on Bruce Feldman’s annual “Freaks” list for The Athletic on Tuesday.
Redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Dontay Corleone came in at No. 16 on the list while fifth-year senior defensive tackle Jowon Briggs was No. 78 and senior linebacker/defensive back Deshawn Pace was No. 93.
UC’s trio of student-athletes tied for third-most in the country with Ohio State, Oregon, Notre Dame and TCU – and behind only Michigan and Penn State.
It marks the third straight season Cincinnati had three players on the 100-player list that mentions the country’s top athletes. Tyler Scott, Tre Tucker and Josh Whyle earned the honors in 2022, while Desmond Ridder, Alec Pierce and Myjai Sanders garnered 2021 nods. All six are now on NFL rosters.
From Feldman’s column:
“Corleone, at 6-foot-1 and 323 pounds, has size 18 shoes and size 11 hands. His 94.7 percent run grade was the best, according to PFF, since Micah Parsons in 2019. Corleone was PFF’s highest rated defensive player last year, landing a spot on the AP’s third-team All-American squad — and as a backup nose tackle. Corleone made the most out of his snaps, piling up 44 tackles, 5.5 TFLs, three sacks, two fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles. His power is something special. He benches 485, squats 605 and deadlifts 700. He also can really move, clocking 18 MPH on the GPS and running a 4.68 pro shuttle. The only defensive tackle over 300 pounds at the combine with a faster shuttle this year was Wisconsin’s 309-pound Keeanu Benton, who ran a 4.65.”
“The 6-2, 303-pound Briggs, an all-conference nose tackle, had 60 tackles last year with 4.5 TFLs and three sacks. Off the field, he’s married with two children and earned his bachelor’s degree with a physics and music focus. He’s also a gifted singer (he’s a tenor) and plays numerous instruments, including piano, guitar, bass, drums, sax, flute, cello, violin, viola and harmonica.
And the reason why he’s listed here: Briggs is super strong. He squatted 700 pounds in high school and this offseason he deadlifted 655 and did 31 reps on the bench press at 225. He also has hit 18.6 MPH and clocked 4.89 in the pro shuttle.”
“Pace, the younger brother of Cincinnati star Ivan Pace Jr. played linebacker last season and now moves to the star position, which is something of a hybrid nickel/linebacker. Pace started eight games last season and ranked fifth on the Bearcats with 62 tackles. He also had five TFLs and blocked one kick. This followed a huge 2021, where he made 94 tackles with nine TFLs and a team-high four interceptions. The 6-2, 212-pound senior has very good speed, clocking 21.21 MPH with a speedy 1.51 10-yard split. He also bench-presses 340 pounds and can do 25 pull-ups.”
Corleone Named to Preseason The Athletic All-America Second Team
Corleone was named to The Athletic 2023 Preseason All-America Second Team on Monday, as well.
Corleone was one of six Big 12 players that earned a first or second-team selection.
The preseason accolades continue to roll in for Corleone, who was tabbed a preseason “player to watch” for the 2023 Walter Camp Trophy last week and was on a short list of players nationally that were named to both watch lists for the Outland Trophy and Bronko Nagurski Trophy earlier this month.
The Cincinnati Colerain High School product anchored a defense that ranked fifth nationally with 4.61 yards per play allowed and totaled 45 tackles, 5.5 TFLs, three sacks, two fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles in only 11 games in 2022 to earn All-AAC First Team and Third Team All-America selections from the Associated Press (AP) and Pro Football Focus (PFF). He was also named an AFCA and College Football News Freshman All-American.
Corleone finished as the nation’s highest-graded defensive player by PFF (93.8) in 2022 and recorded a single-season run defense grade (94.7) that was the best of any player since 2019.
-GoBearcats.com-
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