Will Anderson: Scouting Report. Everything You Need To Know

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Height: 6’4”
Weight: 243 Lbs
Position: Edge Rusher
School: Alabama
Year: Junior

BACKGROUND

Will Anderson is one of the top-ranked, elite prospects available for the 2023 NFL Draft. He is an athletic, explosive disruptor who has exceedingly rare talents.

Born in Hampton in Georgia, Anderson attended Dutchtown High School where he was recruited as a consensus 4-star prospect and a top 10 player out of the state of Georgia.

Anderson had nearly 40 offers and committed to Alabama over LSU, Auburn and Tennessee.

At Alabama, in his freshmen season in 2020, Will Anderson showed why he was so sought-after. Racking up 7 sacks and 10.5 tackles for a loss, while winning the Shaun Alexander-FWAA Freshman of the Year Award and a National Championship. But, Anderson keeps improving. In 2021 in his sophomore season, he won the Bronko Nagurski Trophy and was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Year with 17.5 sacks and 34.5 tackles for a loss which was the best in college football.

Will Anderson’s play and production has established him as one of the must-have prospects in the 2023 NFL Draft. He is a smart, skilled and gifted football player who combines athleticism, physicality and length to make him a polished and proficient prospect.

Watch the video below which highlights the all-round skills of Will Anderson.

STRENGTHS

Production
Power
Speed
Finishing
Skill Moves

What Will Anderson has is everything you look for and need in an edge prospect. He has everything and checks all the boxes.

Will Anderson’s play is elite. He shows pure dominance in every area of the game and has already shown everything he needs to on tape.

What makes Will Anderson such an elite prospect is his ability to combine strength and speed. Anderson has the athleticism which means he moves like a player who is 20 lbs lighter than he is, but, has the raw strength and power of a player who is 20 lbs heavier. However, it is his ability to close and finish plays with advanced precision which gives him unrivalled production.

The power leads to him being extremely well balanced, he has an excellent anchor and always maintains his leverage. Anderson can transfer this power through to his hands, which are punchy and powerful and he can lock his hands with unanswerable placement to overwhelm his man.

His speed and mobility leads to him being an explosive athlete. He can manipulate linemen and has all the skill moves in his arsenal. His swim, spin and chop movements are outstanding to the point where accomplished NFL players would be jealous, while his burst out of his stance is unforgiving.

This versatile and all-around skill set means you can line Will Anderson up anywhere and he will have an impact on the play. He has the intelligence to read alignments and proactively retaliate to offset any potential offensive clout. Add in Anderson’s ability to also impressively influence the running game and you have a player who has a varied, adaptable and endless expert skillset.

You can have all these extraordinary skills, but they mean nothing without effort. Lucky, Will Anderson shows ferocious determination on every down.

WEAKNESSES

Size
Bend

If you were to say that Will Anderson had no weaknesses, then it would be hard to argue against you. Rather than weaknesses, it is more where he has scope to enhance and develop.

Firstly, his size. At 243 lbs he is not the biggest. As previously mentioned though, he far exceeds the strength and speed he should have. However, his smaller size means he has to overcompensate against bigger tackles. His hand placement is excellent, but further refining and more accuracy and energy into his hand deployment would serve him well in overcoming bulkier offensive linemen.

Will Anderson is also not the most pliable of rushers. He does lack some flexibility and bend. His superb length means he stands up more than arching his body and sinking his hips to turn round the edge.

SUMMARY

There is no question that Will Anderson is the best player in college football right now. How highly he gets drafted will depend on this quarterback class and how the draft order shakes out. But, Will Anderson should easily be a top 5 pick and likely the first non-quarterback taken in the 2023 NFL Draft.

We get good edge rushers every year, but what Will Anderson has is rare. He is a can’t miss prospect and should be viewed as a franchise cornerstone when he lands on an NFL team.

How good of a prospect is Will Anderson? Let us know over on Twitter @NinetynineYards and @Owain_Jones_

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