LARAMIE – The 2024 Cowboys are freakishly talented.
 
Two Wyoming players, wide receiver Alex Brown (No. 64) and free safety Wyett Ekeler (No. 80), made Bruce Feldman's "Freaks List" published Tuesday in the Athletic.
 
Only 101 college football players from all levels appeared in Feldman's ranking of the freakiest athletes in the sport. The Power 4 conferences had 72 players on the list, the Group of 5 had 18, the FCS had 10 and Division II had one.
 
The only other Mountain West player represented was Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty (No. 54).
 
"That's awesome. It's an accomplishment I didn't know about, but it's cool to get," Ekeler said after UW's practice on Tuesday. "We've got a lot more guys I feel like can be on that list."
 
The 6-foot-4, 203-pound Brown broad-jumped 11-4 1/2 -inches, vertical-jumped 40 inches and reached 22.42 mph on his GPS tracking device during summer workouts.
 
Feldman noted that "the Cowboys have a trio of freaky athletes on offense" with tight end John Michael Gyllenborg posting a vertical jump of 37 ½ inches and a broad jump of 10-6 and quarterback Evan Svoboda going 39.7 inches in the vertical jump and 10-0 in the broad jump.
 
UW head coach Jay Sawvel was pleased with the shape the Pokes showed up in for fall camp after a highly productive offseason in Eric Donoval's strength and conditioning program.
 
"It's pretty cool to get put up on a list with a lot of those guys that are doing pretty big things," Brown said. "This summer and leading out of spring ball a lot of us took summer workouts more serious than in years past. I think it has shown. I mean, J-Mike is not really running much slower than I am and that's pretty crazy for a tight end.
 
"I think we're in a really good spot with what we did this summer, and our mindset has gotten us to this point."
 
Ekeler, whose older brother Austin Ekeler is entering his eighth season as an NFL running back, vertical-jumped 42 ½ inches and broad-jumped 10-7. He is one of the leaders of the team and a potential all-MW safety after finishing third on the Cowboys with 77 tackles last season with two sacks and two interceptions.
 
"I've come miles from where I've been," said Ekeler, who went from 197 to 210 pounds since returning for workouts in January. "Just thinking back, I'm hard on myself, but it's for a reason because it has gotten me to where I am today. I still have a long way to go. I'm not even close to where I want to be."
 
The Pokes have high internal expectations this season, which kicks off at Arizona State on Aug. 31 in Tempe.
 
Sawvel stopped Tuesday's practice, the sixth of camp, to light a fire under the team after it began with some lackluster periods.
 
There is nothing to freak out about if the leaders of this talented group make sure UW finishes fall camp the right way over the next two weeks.
 
"It says how good of an offseason we had for sure," Ekeler said of the recognition from Feldman. "We had a lot of guys come in and take things seriously, which in the past we've had some slacking. This year we had our captains pick it up and set a tone for everybody."
 
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