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The biggest workout warrior on every Way-Too-Early Top 25 football team

Between his strength in the weight room and his speed on the field, Derrius Guice is LSU's latest workout warrior in the Tigers' backfield. Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images

To earn a spot in Mark Schlabach's 2017 Way-Too-Early Top 25, your team needs a load of on-field stars. But each of those teams also has an off-field superstar, the one who awes even his strongest, fastest teammates during workouts.


1. Alabama: QB Jalen Hurts

Granted, his passing needs to come a long way and he's not all that tall, but Jalen Hurts is as physically stout a quarterback as you'll find. The rising sophomore grew up in the weight room and once squatted 500 pounds in high school. Combine that with sub-4.5-second speed in the 40-yard dash and you're looking at a scout's dream. -- Alex Scarborough


2. Florida State: TE Ryan Izzo

There are no shortage of players in Florida State's weight room capable of launching some serious iron, but the strength staff looks at tight end Ryan Izzo as the role model in the gym. The redshirt junior is consistently putting in overtime, staying late for a few extra sets and reps. He has climbed from 236 pounds to 245 pounds over his three offseasons in Tallahassee. -- Jared Shanker


3. USC: LB Porter Gustin

Porter Gustin is the Trojans' hands-down winner. At 6-foot-5 and 260 pounds, the outside linebacker is like one gigantic muscle. "This one is a slam dunk," a USC representative said. "He lives, sleeps and eats in the weight room." -- David Lombardi


4. Ohio State: C Billy Price

Billy Price has grown tired of all the attention on his weightlifting routine, so getting the captain to update exactly how much iron he can throw around at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center is a bit of a challenge. But at the end of his own grueling workout, the senior center has been known to help struggling offensive linemen finish sets of pushups by sliding underneath them and lifting them up, a feat perhaps more impressive than any amount of reps on the bench press. -- Austin Ward


5. Penn State: RB Saquon Barkley

Saquon Barkley wows people as much in the weight room as he does on the football field. The running back tied a school record with a 390-pound power clean last offseason and was hand-timed at 4.33 seconds in the 40-yard dash recently. NFL scouts are already drooling over the Heisman Trophy contender. -- Brian Bennett


6. Clemson: G Tyrone Crowder

He has never been the biggest name on the offense, but he might be Clemson's biggest offensive player. Tyrone Crowder checks in at 6-foot-3 and 337 pounds and is a beast in the gym. According to the Tigers' strength staff, he benches 465 and can put up 225 pounds 31 times. More impressive is the lower-body strength. Crowder has a power clean of 365 and squats 610. -- David M. Hale


7. Washington: DL Vita Vea

Six-foot-four, 346-pound defensive lineman Vita Vea began doing yoga last year. He has been spotted doing headstands on the sidelines during games. In an environment where big guys are assumed to only use the bench press and squat rack, advanced yoga is freakish. -- Lombardi


8. Oklahoma: RB Rodney Anderson

Despite suffering back-to-back season-ending injuries (leg, neck), sophomore running back Rodney Anderson is pound-for-pound arguably the strongest and most athletic player on the team. Quarterback teammate Baker Mayfield calls Anderson "definitely a specimen." -- Jake Trotter


9. LSU: RB Derrius Guice

Derrius Guice fits the bill here. Strength and conditioning coach Tommy Moffitt regularly lists Guice on the team's weightlifter of the day board, and the rising junior can also move for somebody who carries so much muscle. Just watch his highlight reel full of long runs, including that 96-yard touchdown against Arkansas last season. -- David Ching


10. Oklahoma State: DL Jarrell Owens

Defensive lineman Jarrell Owens boasts a 37-inch vertical jump. That would have been third among defensive linemen at the NFL combine this year. -- Trotter


11. Auburn: OL Braden Smith

There's something about the strength program at Auburn. At this year's NFL combine, it was Carl Lawson who benched 225 pounds 35 times, the most of any defensive lineman at the event. Next year, don't be surprised if Braden Smith does more than 40 reps. The Kansas native was pretty strong when he first arrived at Auburn, and he has only gotten stronger since he has been there. -- Greg Ostendorf


12. Wisconsin: RB Chris James

Chris James hasn't seen the field in Madison yet after sitting out last season as a transfer from Pittsburgh. But James, a 5-foot-10, 208-pounder from Chicago, has a history of showcasing his workout ability. In high school, a training video of his went viral and has been viewed more than 4.3 million times since it posted in June 2013. James has the speed and strength to be a major contributor this season.-- Jesse Temple


13. Georgia: RB Nick Chubb

Nick Chubb returned from his knee injury last year with rumors swirling he could squat more than 500 pounds well before he should have been. Chubb also started cutting earlier than expected. And while he didn't have a banner year in 2016, he is a physical freak who could absolutely shoot up the draft order after his combine and pro day performances next year. Chubb is built like an old-school running back and will be appealing to NFL teams. -- Edward Aschoff


14. Michigan: DE Rashan Gary

There isn't much about former No. 1 overall recruit Rashan Gary that isn't impressive, but what jumps out most during his winter workouts is his speed and agility. He is described as one of the "twitchiest" players on Michigan's defense, and coaches rave about his work ethic. At 290 pounds, he registered a 31-inch vertical leap and ran the 40-yard dash in 4.57 seconds this spring, which is faster than all but one quarterback ran at the NFL combine this year. -- Dan Murphy


15. Stanford: WR Trent Irwin

This is the title that used to belong to Christian McCaffrey, who would famously demoralize opponents in one-on-one conditioning drills. Now, receiver Trent Irwin takes the mantle. He always is the last player to leave the practice field, pouring in hours of extra work. -- Lombardi


16. Miami: LB Shaq Quarterman

Shaq Quarterman was already a workout warrior before he arrived at Miami. He competed in weightlifting at his Jacksonville high school. In the state championships, he posted a 315-pound bench and 300-pound clean and jerk. -- Andrea Adelson


17. Kansas State: LB Trent Tanking

Former walk-on Trent Tanking, who might finally get the chance to start this season at linebacker, has been turning heads in the gym for years, recently power-cleaning 385 pounds, bench-pressing 350 and squatting more than 500. -- Trotter


18. Louisville: DT Chris Williams

Chris Williams has never been the Cardinals' most dominant lineman, but he took a nice step last season, posting 5.5 tackles for loss and forcing two fumbles in his first season of playing time. His role figures to expand in 2017, and he's showing why he deserves a bigger share of the action in the weight room, where he benches 405 and hang cleans 605. -- Hale


19. Colorado: CB Isaiah Oliver

Isaiah Oliver is the coaches' pick here. Perhaps credit should go to the fact that he's currently a decathlete for Colorado's track team. During indoor track season, Oliver set four new school heptathlon records in the 60-meter dash, 60-meter hurdles, long jump and the shot put. -- Lombardi


20. South Florida: DT Deadrin Senat

Deadrin Senat, a 305-pound senior, won the team's defensive MVP award a season ago after leading all USF defensive linemen with 49 tackles. His work in the weight room might be more impressive. Senat had a 675-pound squat last year, and he will look to break the program-record 700-pound squat this year. -- Adelson


21. Washington State: S Isaac Dotson

Word is that Isaac Dotson is the Cougars' biggest force in the weight room. That's not surprising, considering the fact that his father, Michael, wrestled for Washington State. That hungry workout mentality is in Dotson's blood. -- Lombardi


22. West Virginia: WR Ka'Raun White

Kevin White moved up to the No. 7 pick in the 2015 NFL draft thanks to an impressive combine featuring a 4.35 40. His brother Ka'Raun has similarly freaky testing numbers: He can broad jump 10 feet, 5 inches, squat 505 pounds and bench 375 pounds, and he has run 3.91 in the pro shuttle and 1.46 in the 10-yard sprint -- Max Olson


23. Texas: LT Connor Williams

One player who immediately wowed new Texas strength coach Yancy McKnight when he sized up his team was Connor Williams, the Longhorns' All-American left tackle. "That's what they should look like," McKnight said. The athletic 6-foot-5 mauler has gone from 288 pounds to 320 pounds this offseason, is a beast in the weight room and could be an NFL first-rounder a year from now. -- Olson


24. Boise State: RB Ryan Wolpin

Broncos' coach Bryan Harsin calls 5-foot-8, 195-pound Ryan Wolpin a "bowling ball" because of his low center of gravity. This concentrated strength allows Wolpin to put up some monstrous numbers in the weight room. -- Lombardi


25. Virginia Tech: S Terrell Edmunds

The Edmunds family isn't short on athleticism, but it is Terrell who the team strength coach considers the weight room "freak." It's an impressive label, considering Terrell's older brother, Trey, once led the Hokies in rushing, and his younger brother, Tremaine, had 18.5 tackles for loss last season. On top of his status as one of the most impressive players in the weight room, Terrell led the Hokies with four interceptions in 2016. -- Shanker