The Arizona Cardinals could end up drafting Alabama edge defender Will Anderson next week in the first round. He is largely considered the best non-quarterback in the draft.
He will likely be selected in the top five and the Cardinals might take him third overall if he is on the board and they don’t trade back.
With as much time as has gone by, hearing about Anderson and his stats and his potential impact has gotten old. Many who were convinced he was the perfect pick have since convinced themselves to go a different direction.
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Here is a reason to get excited about him again.
ESPN’s Todd McShay appeared on NFL Live and explained why a team would be smart to draft Anderson.
He gave a couple of reasons about the player himself.
“Will Anderson is the hardest-working player in the entire 2023 draft class,” he said. “He’s had the most pressures of any EDGE in the last two years. He’s got 28 sacks, the most sacks of any pass rusher the last two years.”
But it isn’t just that. McShay can’t get over how Alabama head coach Nick Saban effusively praises Anderson.
“I’ve talked to Nick for almost 20 years now, during the season, predraft about his players, probably over 150 players,” McShay explained. “I have heard him speak glowingly about probably 100 of those guys. I have never heard him speak about a player like he did Will Anderson.”
Really? Do tell.
“He said, ‘he’s a throwback,'” McShay continued. “‘He’s like guys I used to play with. When I would ask him to do something, he would run through a wall for me.’
“And he even finished by saying, ‘This guy, Todd, is a dog-(expletive) competitor.’ I’ve never seen him just glow like he did talking about Will Anderson, and that guy is the best in the business, the best who ever did it in college football.”
McShay leaves no doubt that Anderson is a great pick for a team.
“I’m going to trust Nick Saban, and I’m going to take Will Anderson and sleep real well after the first night of the draft.”
If the Cardinals end up selecting Anderson, perhaps we should all feel confident in that selection.
In addition to the physical traits and the elite production, he sounds exactly like the type of player new head coach Jonathan Gannon wants on the roster for the Cardinals.
Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.
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