As Will Anderson Jr. took to the field for the first game of his junior year in September 2022, there wasn’t a single Arizona Cardinal fan who would’ve imagined that 5 months later the Alabama standout would be a viable first-round draft selection for the team.

Anderson was coming off one of the most dominant college seasons of all time, destined to be the undoubted #1 selection in the 2023 Draft, while the Cardinals were retooling for another run at the NFC West title and harbouring hopes of playing in the Super Bowl that would be held in their home of State Farm Stadium.

Those rosy dreams seem like a lifetime away now for Cards fans. Since those expectant days in September, the team lost QB Kyler Murray to a devastating ACL injury that will keep him out of at least a part of the 2023 season and finished rock bottom of the NFC West with a 4-13 record which resulted in the departures of Kliff Kingsbury and Steve Keim.

One of the only positive takeaways from a season in the wilderness is that new General Manager Monti Ossenfort now holds the #3 overall pick in a draft with an exciting quarterback class and an NFL landscape that sees several quarterback-needy teams prepared to pounce.

That has given Ossenfort the ability to gift wrap Cardinals Head Coach Jonathan Gannon and Defensive Coordinator Nick Rallis a shiny, blue chip defensive cornerstone to lead the franchise into a new era.

One of those blue chip prospects is Will Anderson Jr., who enters the draft after three years under the tutelage of the legendary Nick Saban at Alabama.

A 5-star recruit out of Dutchtown High School in Georgia, Anderson was a Day 1 difference maker for ‘Bama, the 6”4 EDGE defender became impossible to keep off the field even as a freshman and he was named to the 2^nd Team All-SEC at the end of the year after making 52 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss (TFLs) and 7 sacks as the Crimson Tide powered their way to a National Championship victory.

Anderson’s production skyrocketed the following year as he led the country in sacks (17.5) and TFLs (31) while also recording 102 tackles and a mind-blowing 81 pressures, obliterating offensive linemen with the kind of elite hand usage and burst off the line that belied his tender age.

Though Alabama came up short in their second successive National Championship appearance against Georgia, Anderson had captured the nation’s imagination as a headline talent and the youngster was certainly given his roses during award season.

Number 31 was honoured as the SEC Defensive Player of the Year ahead of the ensemble cast of defensive powerhouses on the Georgia roster and awarded the Bronko Nagurski Award marking Anderson as the top defensive player in college football.

He was also named as a unanimous All-American and first-team ALL-SEC.

During the build up to the 2022 Draft, rumours began to circulate that Georgia’s Travon Walker had supplanted Aidan Hutchinson as the favourite to be picked #1 overall by the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Conversation raged online and in the media about whether the potential upside and toolsy traits of Walker outweighed the proven ability of Hutchinson until the Jaguars made their pick and selected Walker.

Put it this way, if Will Anderson had been eligible to declare last year there wouldn’t have been a second thought about who the first overall selection should be. Anderson would have been a Jacksonville Jaguar. It’s as simple as that.

Despite his production dropping in this past season, Anderson’s 10 sacks ranked 10^th best across college football, and is more than Travon Walker managed in his 3 combined years at Georgia (9.5). He was also still 3^rd in the nation for pressures (53) behind Laiatu Latu (61) and Jonah Tavai (56).

Gannon and Rallis are both aware of the impact a high-level pass rusher can make to a defense after having Haason Reddick flying off the edge in Philadelphia. The former Cardinal racked up 16 sacks as the Eagles front seven wrecked games on the road to the Super Bowl with the team totalling an eye-watering 70.

Disrupting the opposition quarterback is going to be a priority for the new coaching staff, with only 8 teams in the league recording less sacks than the Cardinals 36 last year,

Half of those sacks are currently floating in the Arizona desert wind with J.J. Watt (12.5) retiring and Zach Allen (5.5) set to be a free agent, though re-signing Allen will also be another major priority for the team.

Evidently, there is no such thing as a 100% guarantee when college players transition to the NFL otherwise but Anderson’s game is well placed to translate to the big time.

He has a GOD TIER first step after the snap. Some of the criticism (which we’ll get to) of Anderson is that he hasn’t displayed a wide array of pass rush moves. His first step is one of the reasons why he hasn’t had to, to still be successful at the college level.

If you don’t believe in ghosts, ask an offensive linemen who has faced Will Anderson Jr. in the past three years if they believe in the supernatural because he haunted them game in, game out.

He’s there in front of them, he’s still there, the ball is snapped and he’s gone before that information has even registered. By the time they’ve turned around, more often than not, their quarterback is on the floor and Will Anderson is celebrating another successful mission.

Anderson marries that electric first step with a mesmerising stutter step that is similar to a move in football (oh fine, soccer) where you dip your shoulder one way and shift in the opposite direction to throw an opponent off balance. My American friends, google Arjen Robben for further evidence.

When linemen do get within arm’s reach of Anderson, the ‘Bama prospect is able to utilise his lightning quick hands to chop away his opposite numbers hands or blend his brute force and balance to keep one arm free as he guides his way around to the quarterback.

This is also a major part of what makes Anderson a terrific run defender to go alongside his pass rushing ability, being able to shed a block at a moment’s notice to stop running backs in their tracks.

Alabama used Anderson incredibly effectively on stunts and Nick Rallis would surely be excited about potentially using him in such fashion in tandem with Cameron Thomas, who should see more playing time in his second year as a pro and who is comfortable both inside and outside on the defensive line.

Anderson, who will only be 22 when the season starts in September, is comfortable coming out of a three point stance and as a traditional stand-up OLB which would be a further tool for Rallis to implement.

It isn’t just as an incredibly prodigious on-field talent that would make Anderson a great fit for the Arizona Cardinals. He is a leader in the locker room, being named a captain in his final two seasons at Alabama, something further highlighted by his decision to play in the Sugar Bowl earlier this year when other high-profile players would’ve opted against the potential risk of injury close to the draft process.

Nicknamed “The Terminator”, he averaged 734 snaps per season over his college career. Fatigue and taking a breather are not words in Will Anderson’s vocabulary.

He’s also taking part in workout drills at the Combine instead of waiting for the comfort and familiarity of Alabama’s Pro Day.

Monti Ossenfort stated in his introductory press conference that “we want people that are willing to put the team first every step of the way” and Will Anderson does just that. Nick Saban called him “the ultimate competitor, a warrior”.

He feels slighted by opposing players lining up against him but away from football, he’s one of the good guys.

He went through an Alabama program that pushes its charges to the limit, both physically and mentally, every single day with a beaming smile and according to Aaron Suttles, Alabama beat writer for The Athletic “not once in the three years that he’s been in Tuscaloosa have I or anyone inside the program ever saw him in a bad mood”.

When talk turns to character during draft evaluation, Will Anderson is the posterboy, a family man who gives his all on the field, with an unblemished record whose dark side is only activated when he puts on a football helmet.

Of course, he isn’t perfect because perfect doesn’t exist at this stage of an athlete’s career.

He does have a limited pass rush toolkit at the moment, in part due to the reasons discussed earlier, and that will have to improve in the NFL to compete with the elite offensive linemen he’ll face.

It hasn’t all been plain sailing during his college career due to this as anyone who has watched the tape of his duels with Tennessee tackle Darnell Wright will tell you. Wright put in the best performance anyone has mustered against Anderson, though he still wasn’t able to completely neutralise him.

Some complementary moves to go alongside his elite first step, burst and hand usage could make him unblockable.

There are also concerns about the amount of missed tackles he’s made in the open field (8 this year) but if Anderson did become an Arizona Cardinal then he would soon be able to learn from the best open field tackler in the NFL – Budda Baker.

The 21-year-old isn’t the biggest EDGE either, currently listed at 6”4 and 243 lbs, though he may have added a couple of pounds for the benefit of the Combine. That frame doesn’t equate to any drop-off in physicality, as Arkansas RT Dalton Wagner can attest to. Anderson bulldozed the 6”9, 331-pounder who may draw attention from the Cardinals as a depth OL piece.

There’s also the fact that his production did decrease at Alabama this past season after his historically commanding performances in 2021 which may flag as a worry for someone slated to cost a premium draft pick.

Not only did Anderson face an increased amount of attention from opposition defensive coordinators in the form of double and triple teams, he played nearly 200 less snaps due to Alabama not playing in any of the Championship games.

His efforts still saw him named as a Unanimous All-American for the second year running, the first player to do so in ‘Bama history as well as being SEC Defensive Player of the Year (again) and first-team All-SEC (you guessed it, again).

He was also awarded the Chuck Bednarik Award , the Lott Trophy and the Lombardi Award.

He leaves the Crimson Tide as the player with the second most career sacks (34.5) and tackles for loss (52) in program history, as a national champion, a lieutenant of Nick Saban and one of the finest players to ever tread the hallowed halls of the University of Alabama

From now until Arizona are on the clock on April 27^th, there will be hours of podcast discussion and Twitter discourse about what the Cardinals should do with the #3 overall pick. Should they pivot to another defensive colossus in Jalen Carter? Could they move back and gain a boat load of picks for Ossenfort to work with? Is there someone who’ll wow the decision makers at the Combine and fly up into contention?

Whatever the answer, we won’t truly know if it was the right one for a couple of years but I’m willing to bet that picking Will Anderson Jr. wouldn’t be the wrong call for Arizona either.

Photo Credits: University of Alabama, Marvin Gentry, Vasha Hunt

Video Credits: Alabama Crimson Tide on AL.com, JustBombsProductions

Editor’s Note: This is the first in a number of draft profiles on the blog. Follow @ErimusSports on Twitter to keep updated so you don’t miss anything about your favourite prospects!