Tag: Will Anderson Jr.

Bears trade back with Colts for haul, land defensive star in new mock draft

In this new mock draft, the Bears trade back with the Colts for a boatload of picks and still manage to land arguably the best prospect.

All eyes are on the Bears ahead of the 2023 NFL draft, as they hold the No. 1 pick. No one expects them to stay put and draft a quarterback, as they already have Justin Fields. Which means it’s a matter of finding a trade partner to move back, acquire additional picks and still land a top prospect.

In this new mock draft, CBS Sports’ Chris Trapasso has the Bears finding a trade partner in the Colts. For Chicago to move back three spots, they land substantial draft capital — Indianapolis’ first (No. 4), second (No. 35) and fourth-round (No. 106) picks in 2023, as well as a 2024 first-rounder and third-rounder and a second-round pick in 2025.

With that No. 4 pick, the Bears land a generational edge rusher in Alabama’s Will Anderson Jr., who many have pegged as the best prospect in this draft class.

Anderson gives me serious Khalil Mack vibes, which makes this perfect for the Bears, particularly after trading back. In the trade, the Bears get this pick, the Colts’ selections in Round 2 and Round 4 along with a 2024 first-round pick and third-round pick plus a 2025 second-round choice.

First, the compensation. After all, that’s the name of the game for a Bears team not in need of quarterback that currently holds the top selection. A lot of mocks have the Colts trading their 2023 first (No. 4) and second-round (No. 35) picks, along with a first-rounder in 2024. That’s in play with this scenario, along with an additional pick in 2023 (No. 106) and a third-rounder in 2024 and second-round selection in 2025.

As we’ve seen from GM Ryan Poles, he’s big on value, building through the draft and loading up on picks. I don’t see why that would change with Chicago in this situation, where Poles will look to get significant value for the top spot.

Next, the pick. Throughout the draft process, it’s been a back-and-forth between Anderson and Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter. Both would be great picks for a Bears defensive line that was arguably the worst in the league in 2022.

Following the trades of Khalil Mack and Robert Quinn over the last year, Anderson would help shore up the league’s worst pass rush, which totaled just 20 sacks in 17 games last season.

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PFF ranks Will Anderson as a top 10 player in 2022

Where Does Will Anderson rank in PFF’s Top 101 players of 2022?

After another outstanding year for the Alabama Crimson Tide, Will Anderson Jr. has played himself into contention to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft.

Anderson was a two-time Nagurski Trophy winner which is awarded to the best defensive player in college football in 2021 and 2022. Anderson is only the second back-to-back winner alongside Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald.

Aside from what he did on the field, Anderson was a staple of the Alabama culture and has been continually praised by head coach Nick Saban. He set a standard that young players will have to commit to going forward.

Anderson was recognized as the 8th best player in the country in 2022 according to PFF. He had 14 sacks and 42 hurries on the way to a Sugar Bowl victory for the Tide. He joins Alabama QB Bryce Young in the top ten.

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Seahawks 2023 NFL mock draft: The all-linemen edition

In order to catch up with the Niners Seattle has to get bigger, meaner and better on both sides of the line of scrimmage.

“Men win wars. Not magic tricks.”

Bronn’s point applies to modern football as well as the Game of Thrones. Specifically, the men who determine who wins and who loses are the very large ones in the trenches who often get overlooked despite their size. Even the cleverest offensive playcallers and most talented quarterbacks find it difficult to overcome a ragged offensive line. On defense, no amount of manufactured pressure can best having multiple pass rush threats and stopping the run can be pretty close to impossible without the right pieces.

The Seahawks can attest to all of that, coming off a season where they exceeded expectations but hit a hard and painful ceiling whenever they faced opponents with superior offensive and defensive line units. Back-to-back losses against the Super Bowl contender Chiefs and 49ers illustrated that much, as did the season-ending loss to San Francisco.

In order to catch up with the Niners – who are making their third NFC Championship appearance in four years this weekend – Seattle has to get bigger, meaner and better on both sides of the line of scrimmage.

With that in mind, we went into our latest 2023 seven-round mock draft with a simple idea: all linemen, every pick. Observe.

2023 Mock Draft: Seahawks move to No. 1 for the best player in the 2023 class

In Doug Farrar’s latest mock draft, the Seattle Seahawks trade up for their next defensive superstar.

There have been three defensive tackles taken with the first overall pick in pro football history: Junious “Buck” Buchanan by the Kansas City Chiefs in  1963, Russell Maryland by the Dallas Cowboys in 1991, and Dan “Big Daddy” Wilkinson by the Cincinnati Bengals in 1994. Results have been mixed. Buchanan was a Hall of Famer and one of the greatest defensive players in AFL history, Maryland made a Pro Bowl and has three Super Bowl rings, and Wilkinson played decently for four NFL teams without any specific accolades.

Based on what we’ve seen from draftable prospects over the last two seasons, it would be difficult to argue that Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter isn’t the best prospect in the upcoming 2023 draft. The splash plays are all over the place, the flaws are few and far between, and given the necessity for interior pressure in today’s quick-game league, it’s possible that Carter could find himself as the fourth such player to go first overall.

As the Chicago Bears, owners of the first overall pick at this point, don’t need a quarterback, the likelihood of such a scenario increases. Or, perhaps another team trades up with the Bears for that first pick, and comes away with Carter as their future star.

For the purposes of this mock draft, that team is the Seattle Seahawks. We have Seattle trading the fifth, 20th, and 53rd overall picks to Chicago, and taking Carter as the first new piece in a much-needed overhaul of Pete Carroll’s front seven. That would leave the Seahawks with six picks in the draft, including the 38th and 84th as things stand now. And as we have seen over the years, from Percy Harvin to Jimmy Graham to Jamal Adams, Carroll and general manager John Schneider are not shy at all about trading first-round picks for assets they deem to be highly valuable. Previous results in these instances have not been great, but anybody watching a lick of Jalen Carter tape would be hard-pressed to call the Seahawks foolish for pushing their chips in on a player like this.

As for the Bears, they’re in a position where they need as many picks as possible to re-stock a relatively talent-barren roster, so this could be a win-win.

With that in place, here’s one version of how the first round of the 2023 NFL draft might go.

2023 NFL draft: 69 prospects granted special eligibility

Here is the full list of 69 players, per Tom Pelissero at NFL Network.

The NFL has released a list of college prospects who have been granted special eligibility for the 2023 draft coming at the end of April.

The list has some of the top prospects in this draft class, including Bryce Young and Will Anderson Jr. from Alabama, Jalen Carter and Broderick Jones from repeat national champion Georgia, plus Oregon cornerback Christian Gonzalez.

Here is the full list of 69 players, per Tom Pelissero at NFL Network.

Nice.

In our latest seven-round mock draft for the Seahawks we picked Young at No. 5 overall plus two more of his teammates in later rounds.

More Seahawks 2023 mock drafts

CJ Stroud or bust

Trading down twice

Carter + Richardson

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LOOK: Trio of Alabama players land in PFF College’s top 10 prospects ahead of 2023 NFL draft

Three former Alabama stars land inside the top 10 of PFF College’s 2023 NFL draft big board.

As January quickly begins to fade and the Eagles, 49ers, Chiefs and Bengals have reached the NFL’s conference championships, it is a reminder that the football season is almost over and then we will quickly move into NFL draft mode.

Although Alabama’s football season did not end with a championship, plenty of star power from Tuscaloosa is still heading into the 2023 NFL draft.

Recently, PFF College released its updated list of the top 10 prospects in this year’s draft, and three former members of the Crimson Tide landed on the list.

Quarterback [autotag]Bryce Young[/autotag] landed in the top spot while outside linebacker [autotag]Will Anderson Jr.[/autotag] came in at No. 4, and safety prospect [autotag]Brian Branch[/autotag] rounded out the list at No. 10.

Here is PFF College’s complete list!

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Ranking Alabama’s wins during the 2022 football season

What a wild season for the Alabama Crimson Tide!

Now that the Alabama Crimson Tide’s 2022 football season has concluded, it is time to look back on some of the best moments from what most programs consider a tremendous season. But by Alabama standards, it was somewhat of a disappointment.

[autotag]Nick Saban[/autotag] and the Tide finished 11-2 on the season and dispatched Kansas State to win the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

Alabama’s schedule was among the toughest in all of college football featuring road games at Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, LSU, and Ole Miss.

Unfortunately, two losses on the final play of the game would keep the Crimson Tide out of the college football playoff for just the second time since its incorporation into the game.

Following the conclusion of Alabama’s season, Roll Tide Wire ranks the Tide’s wins during the 2022 campaign and are listed below.

2023 NFL Mock Draft: Quarterbacks go 1-2 (with trade) after C.J. Stroud’s coronation

C.J. Stroud’s performance against Georgia may shoot him up draft boards. In Doug Farrar’s latest mock draft, one team trades up to get Ohio State’s quarterback.

Alabama quarterback Bryce Young’s performance against Kansas State in the Sugar Bowl — he completed 15 of 21 passes for 321 yards, five touchdown passes to five different receivers, and no interceptions — should easily solidify his status as the first player selected in the 2023 draft. While some teams have expressed concern over Young relatively slight frame (6-foot-0, 194 pounds), he possesses enough of the key attributes to easily overcome that potential deficit when you watch the tape. The Houston Texans should just start sewing those Bryce Young jerseys now.

Mock drafts have been easy when it comes to the first overall pick. After that is where it has been interesting. Georgia’s Jalen Carter is widely regarded as the best overall prospect in this draft class, and for good reason, and as the Chicago Bears don’t need a quarterback with the second overall pick, they’d do well to add his furious pass rush and dominant skill set to their roster.

That’s one way the second overall pick could go. Another way it could go is for another, more QB-needy team, to trade up with the Bears and go get the second-best quarterback in this class.

The question has been, who is that quarterback? Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud had an amazing regular season, but the perception all along with Stroud is that he’s amazing in the pocket, but he tends to regress when things break down.

Then came Ohio State’s 42-41 loss to Georgia in the Peach Bowl CFP Semifinal. Stroud’s team may have lost that game, but Stroud picked up a lot of juice in this draft because of the things he did that he hadn’t really done before. He was a different quarterback under pressure, and as expected, the Bulldogs’ amazing defense brought all kinds of it.

This was especially true on the two touchdown passes Stroud threw to Marvin Harrison Jr. in the first half of the game. There was this 31-yard touchdown pass thrown with 8:16 left in the first quarter, in which Stroud drifted to his right, directed Harrison out of the way of coverage, and made the throw he needed to make.

Then, there was this 16-yarder with 10:56 left in the second quarter, where Stroud was pressured by multiple Bulldogs defenders, escaped the problems, and threw an absolute dart off-platform.

Stroud had everything else on point already, but these kinds of throws against the best defense in the country makes him the kind of quarterback you trade up to get so that he can be the face of your franchise.

In this mock draft, the Indianapolis Colts have done exactly that — moving from fifth to second in a trade with the Bears that also gives Chicago Indy’s 2024 first-round pick.

Here’s how the rest of the first round might go in the 2023 NFL draft.

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Trio of Alabama players officially make their 2023 NFL draft decisions

Three Alabama stars have officially declared for the 2023 NFL draft.

Bryce Young, Will Anderson Jr., and Jahmyr Gibbs have officially announced their intentions to enter the 2023 NFL draft.

All three players are expected to be first-round picks in April’s draft, with Young and Anderson having the potential to be the top two picks overall.

Each player announced their decision just moments ago via a press conference on the campus of the University of Alabama.

Young, Anderson, and Gibbs each took a turn behind the podium to thank everyone who helped them along the way to accomplish this tremendous goal.

Young is quite possibly the greatest quarterback in Alabama history and etched his name in Crimson lore after being the first Tide signal caller to win the Heisman Trophy during his 2021 campaign.

Anderson is one of Alabama’s greatest defensive players of not only the Nick Saban era but of all time. Anderson finished his Tide career with an incredible 34.5 sacks.

Gibbs joined the Tide via the transfer portal ahead of the 2022 season and instantly made an impact on the Alabama offense. Gibbs totaled over 1,300 yards from scrimmage and was a threat as both a runner and a receiver.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow the careers of all three former Alabama stars.

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Stacey Blackwood on Twitter @Blackwood89.

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8 Alabama players land inside the top 100 of latest 2023 NFL draft big board

A total of eight Alabama players land inside the top 100 of Tankathon’s 2023 NFL draft big board.

Now that Alabama’s football season has concluded, it is time to shift our focus to one of my favorite events each year, the NFL draft.

Despite not winning a championship, talent was not lacking on the Crimson Tide roster. Tankathon recently updated its 2023 NFL draft big board, and eight Alabama players landed inside the top 100.

The usual suspects of [autotag]Bryce Young[/autotag], [autotag]Will Anderson Jr.[/autotag] and [autotag]Brian Branch[/autotag] make an appearance, but you may find a couple of surprises rounding out the list.

Here is a complete list of all the Tide players included and where they rank according to Tankathon: