What keeps the phenomenally talented Will Anderson grounded and humble?
“One lady: Tereon Anderson, my mom,” Will said.
The Alabama linebacker is one of the best players in the draft and a near lock to go in the top 10, and depending on trades by QB-needy teams will likely go top five. In a sport dominated by the messaging of toughness and machismo, Anderson is a breath of fresh air. He’s never shied away from the profound influence that the women closest to him have had in his life.
“All my [five] sisters, they played sports, so they played basketball, they ran track, volleyball, and I watched them,” Anderson said. “I watched how they work. I watched their work ethic. I took the good and I left the bad. Just watching the way they work. They put a lot into me, they made a lot of sacrifices for me, went up and down the road giving me advice telling me different things. That’s kinda how they molded me into the athlete I am today.”
Now that Anderson is readying for the pros, more talented women are in his corner, including Nicole Lynn, president of Klutch Sports, who recently became the first Black woman to represent a player in the Super Bowl (Jalen Hurts). Anderson also made it a point to shout out other women at Klutch Sports, Jenna Malphrus and Shakeemah Simmons-Winter, as being integral to his draft prep, specifically when it comes to getting him ready for interviews and helping him study who he’s meeting with for each team.
Anderson is a unique prospect, and the best pure edge rusher that Nick Saban had at Alabama. He entered the 2022 season as the most impressive player at his position and has lived up to the projection every step of the way, backed by a talented group of women who push him to be great.
Tyree Wilson says his health is a full go
The first thing you notice about Texas Tech edge rusher Tyree Wilson is his length. He’s 6'6" with a mammoth wingspan, and the measurables have vaulted him up draft boards throughout the season.
But all eyes will be on his foot after a late-season foot fracture forced him to get a screw inserted in his foot. He said he’s ahead of schedule—He walked to the podium Wednesday without a limp and has been out of a walking boot for about a month.
“I think I’m real close to 100%,” he said.
While he may participate in the bench press, he’ll save the rest of workouts for Texas Tech’s pro day.
Dylan Horton has a plan
Defensive linemen are tacticians that often don’t get enough credit for their technical prowess, but to listen to TCU’s Dylan Horton describe his game is to hear someone who understands the finer points of developing a pass rush plan and adjusting when needed throughout a game. Here’s how he described his thought process going into the Fiesta Bowl against Michigan.
“There was a situation where I had to blitz and slant inside and watching film I knew that I had to go inside the guard, so faking like I was going into the B gap [between guard and tackle] and slanting across his face into the A gap [between center and guard] that’s the only way I watched it on film. But throughout the game I tried to do it, but I wasn’t clean enough. So, knowing that I had to make sure I sold myself into the B gap.”
It’s a game he finished with four sacks in the Horned Frogs’ 51–45 win, so the mission was accomplished. Horton got nerdy about pass rushing because he originally wasn’t a hand-in-the-dirt defensive end until new defensive coordinator Joe Gillespie got to Fort Worth before the 2022 season (and Horton played safety in high school).
Brenton Cox trying to move forward after exit from Florida
Brenton Cox has physical tools that make him perhaps a Day 2 draftable player, but some character concerns have popped up throughout his career. He originally signed with Georgia before transferring to Florida and leaving the team near the end of his final season.
At the time, Florida head coach Billy Napier called it a “cumulative decision.” As Cox goes through the interview process with NFL teams, he’ll certainly have to explain how things broke bad near the end of his career.
“It’s not my business to try and figure out why another man did something else,” Cox said. “I just tell them I’m a hard-nosed guy and I’m ready to move on from it.”
Cox recently participated in the East-West Shrine Bowl all-star game, and found the clear instruction he received from coaches during the practices was something that appealed to him, especially working with Bill Belichick.
“It’s much different than working with college coaches,” Cox said. “It’s pretty straightforward. What they want you to do, you have to do it right away and you have to take coaching on the spot. It was great working with him.”
