Dontay Corleone, Jowon Briggs, Deshawn Pace Make The Athletic's Annual Freaks List

Cincinnati has a trio of impact players on defense.

Author:
Russ Heltman
Aug 15, 2023 8:02 AM EDT

In this story:

CINCINNATI — UC football landed three players on the latest Freaks List from the Athletic's Bruce Feldman. Dontay Corleone (No. 16), Jowon Briggs (No. 78), and Deshawn Pace (No. 93) all made the 101-player write up.

Corleone packs an impressive set of skills and power in his 6-foot-1 frame.

"'The Godfather' is quite the character," Feldman wrote. "He’s 6-1-ish and 323 pounds. He has size 18 shoes and size 11 hands. He emerged as a star last season in his debut for the Bearcats. 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."

Briggs is a man of many talents off the field, and on it.

"The Virginia transfer makes a great complement to 'The Godfather' on and off the field," Feldman wrote. "The 6-2, 303-pound Briggs, a former 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 from Virginia in 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 is ready to show his skills in a diverse new role and join his brother, Ivan, in the NFL.

"The younger brother of Cincinnati star Ivan Pace played linebacker last season and now moves to the star position, which is something of a hybrid nickel/linebacker," Feldman wrote. "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."

Check out Feldman's full story here.

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