Will Anderson Jr.

One of the most dominant defenders across college football over the last two seasons, Anderson is a violent edge rusher with lean muscle from head to toe.

You don’t luck into 34.5 sacks across a three season span in the SEC. Anderson explodes off the ball with fury, dictating the first phase of the rush. He generates a ton of power from his lower half and plays with tremendous leverage. This creates balance issues for offensive lineman and Anderson does a great job capitalizing by darting through open spaces. Even without elite bend, he can contort his body to work through gaps.

As a stand up rusher, Anderson uses stutter steps and active hands to swat away punches. He’s mastered how to keep tackles honest, with his power threatening the inside but his burst winning the outside. His closing speed on quarterbacks converts would-be pressures or hits into actual sacks.

Against the run, a lot of his pass rush traits lead to blowing up plays in the backfield. He has great vision paired with his burst that allows him to dart through gaps. If there’s something to nitpick in his run defense, he comes downhill looking to strike with one arm or all of his upper body rather than wrapping up. Because of this, he did miss quite a few tackles in the backfield.

Anderson’s floor is extremely high because he has great play speed, pro ready hands and as relentless of a mindset you will see up front. He might not have rare size or athleticism, but the tape shows a future high end pass rusher that brings the same intensity playing the run.