Will Anderson Jr. (Alabama EDGE) -- DRAFTED BY HOUSTON #3

[Waiting4Someday]

On 10/3/2022 at 5:38 PM, time2rock said:

I'd love Anderson but does anyone really think we'd take an OLB in round 1 (regardless of how good a player he is) ... in particular with a top 5 pick?  

Who knows, maybe they're seeing how much better our defense is playing after having added 2 legit players (Reddick, White) this year and will make them reconsider past philosophies.  

Maybe if they played more 5-1 penny front, so that Reddick and Anderson are on the field more; then use Sweat and Anderson in obvious passing situations/4DL-Nickel.

I’d like to see JD in for more 4DL snaps to see if we could go lighter on the edge without folding against the run. Given that the BG-Fletch-Hargrave-Sweat grouping has been a leaky, taking out a + run defender (BG) and inserting Anderson might be dicey in normal down and distance… Anderson-JD-Hargrove-Sweat might be workable.

All that being said, I think LV is going to be real obstacle for Anderson becoming an Eagle.

[mattwill]

On 10/3/2022 at 3:52 PM, Aerolithe_Lion said:

QB needy teams will take them off the board 1-2, maybe even 1-2-3. We have a legitimate shot to get this guy with the saints pick and maybe a minor trade up if necessary

How would you rank the top QB prospects, and approximately where do you see them selected in the 2023 Draft?

One of the myriad analysis websites put together the following updated list of their take on the college QBs.  How does that align with your thoughts?

1	C.J. Stroud	Ohio State
2	Hendon Hooker	Tennessee
3	Drake Maye	North Carolina
4	Bryce Young	Alabama
5	Michael Penix Jr.	Washington
6	Caleb Williams	USC
7	Grayson McCall	Coastal Carolina
8	Will Rogers	Mississippi State
9	Dorian Thompson-Robinson	UCLA
10	Stetson Bennett	Georgia
HM	Jaren Hall	BYU
HM	Will Levis	Kentucky
HM	Austin Reed	Western Kentucky
HM	Jordan Travis	Florida State
HM	D.J. Uiagelelei	Clemson
HM	Tyler Van Dyke	Miami (FL)
HM	Cameron Rising	Utah

 

[Aerolithe_Lion]

41 minutes ago, mattwill said:

How would you rank the top QB prospects, and approximately where do you see them selected in the 2023 Draft?

One of the myriad analysis websites put together the following updated list of their take on the college QBs.  How does that align with your thoughts?

1	C.J. Stroud	Ohio State
2	Hendon Hooker	Tennessee
3	Drake Maye	North Carolina
4	Bryce Young	Alabama
5	Michael Penix Jr.	Washington
6	Caleb Williams	USC
7	Grayson McCall	Coastal Carolina
8	Will Rogers	Mississippi State
9	Dorian Thompson-Robinson	UCLA
10	Stetson Bennett	Georgia
HM	Jaren Hall	BYU
HM	Will Levis	Kentucky
HM	Austin Reed	Western Kentucky
HM	Jordan Travis	Florida State
HM	D.J. Uiagelelei	Clemson
HM	Tyler Van Dyke	Miami (FL)
HM	Cameron Rising	Utah

 

Bryce Young will go much higher due to his hype and sheer "NFL readiness” due to the program he came from. Teams draft for reduced chance of failing as much as they do maximum potential. Why Darnold went over Allen, Goff over Wentz. Bryce is halfway to being a professional already at Alabama. Think about Mac Jones; he goes to literally 100 other schools and he’s probably a day 3 pick. But spending his entire college career throwing to 5-6 1st round wide receivers, Nick Saban going on national tv and telling sports center that Mac is practically his son because they’re so alike...  unless Bruce bombs the rest of the season, he’s locked in to his draft position. Maybe he "falls” like Tua and only goes 5th, but he will be coveted. I don’t think QB size is as much a factor today as it was 15 years ago; that’s his biggest knock.

 

I think right now it’ll be Stroud, Young, and…. I can’t believe how low Will Levis is on that list. But where QBs are drafted has more to do with QB needy teams than it does talent. Trey Lance wasn’t the 3rd best prospect in 2021, not close. But I think we have the teams this year to really up that number. 

[ManchesterEagle]

Saints lose again. Anderson still in play….

[nipples]

On 10/21/2022 at 6:15 AM, ManchesterEagle said:

Saints lose again. Anderson still in play….

That team isn’t winning more than 6 games IMO. This is going to be a very high pick. 

[Waiting4Someday]

On 10/21/2022 at 6:15 AM, ManchesterEagle said:

Saints lose again. Anderson still in play….

I can't accept any draft simulations where the Terminator falls out of the top-3.

[Aerolithe_Lion]

On 10/27/2022 at 11:59 AM, Waiting4Someday said:

I can't accept any draft simulations where the Terminator falls out of the top-3.

I think there will be a bevy of teams taking 1st round QBs. Only a matter of time before the next Trey Lance skyrockets up the draft board

[ilikepargo]

6 hours ago, Aerolithe_Lion said:

I think there will be a bevy of teams taking 1st round QBs. Only a matter of time before the next Trey Lance skyrockets up the draft board

Of course there will be a couple.  There always are.  But there aren't likely tone enough to push Anderson down to us.  This is a pipe dream.

[Waiting4Someday]

11 hours ago, Aerolithe_Lion said:

I think there will be a bevy of teams taking 1st round QBs. Only a matter of time before the next Trey Lance skyrockets up the draft board

2021-1999-1971,  3 times in over 50 years… not impossible, but not likely.

[time2rock]

On 11/3/2022 at 8:47 AM, Waiting4Someday said:

2021-1999-1971,  3 times in over 50 years… not impossible, but not likely.

Even though there are a number of teams currently slotted with top 5-6 picks that are (likely) in need of a QB (Houston, Detroit, Carolina, Las Vegas probably as well), gut feeling says Anderson still goes top 3.  Our best chance to land him is to either hope the pick from NO ends up being 3 (and the 2 teams picking ahead of us take QBs) or we trade up.  

[Waiting4Someday]

1 hour ago, time2rock said:

Even though there are a number of teams currently slotted with top 5-6 picks that are (likely) in need of a QB (Houston, Detroit, Carolina, Las Vegas probably as well), gut feeling says Anderson still goes top 3.  Our best chance to land him is to either hope the pick from NO ends up being 3 (and the 2 teams picking ahead of us take QBs) or we trade up.  

Yup - that’s the premise I’m working with.

[RebelJedi]

Me if we end up with Will Anderson Jr. at the Draft.

[Godfather]

Keep losing saints! 

[ManchesterEagle]

On 11/15/2022 at 3:04 PM, Godfather said:

Keep losing saints! 

Sadly they are getting the Rams without Kupp….

[time2rock]

2 hours ago, ManchesterEagle said:

Sadly they are getting the Rams without Kupp….

Stafford is still in concussion protocol as well.  

[ManchesterEagle]

1 hour ago, time2rock said:

Stafford is still in concussion protocol as well.  

Not a good week for injuries for us.

[Waiting4Someday]

I was thinking about the top DL prospects and who they might replace/role they would take on immediately assuming the scheme doesn't change much.

Will Anderson, translates as a 3-4OLB or as a pass rush specialist in 3rd in long situations, etc.  So, probably less Sweat in the penny front and the Quinn role in a 4DL front.

Myles Murphy would seem to be a 4-3 DE (not sure if you want to kick him inside or stand him up in the 5-man fronts, probably the latter), which would supplant BGs role.

Jalen Carter would replace Fletch and translates pretty easily to the fronts Gannon uses as a 5T-4i-3T.

They all seem to work - if all were relatively equal, I'm not sure who represents the best bang for the buck schematically.

 

[nipples]

On 11/16/2022 at 11:32 AM, ManchesterEagle said:

Sadly they are getting the Rams without Kupp….

Yeah, but they also just lost to the Steelers. They are more than capable of getting beaten by the Rams. 

[Waiting4Someday]

So Will Anderson misses a lot of tackles… yes, this isn’t the top-10 pick you are looking for <fingers crossed>.

Update: the PFF simulator has been tweaked so QBs are actually taken - that said, the pickings are pretty slim at 10 as definitely feels like we’ve fallen outside blue chip territory at least for DL.

[nipples]

On 11/23/2022 at 6:57 AM, Waiting4Someday said:

So Will Anderson misses a lot of tackles… yes, this isn’t the top-10 pick you are looking for <fingers crossed>.

Update: the PFF simulator has been tweaked so QBs are actually taken - that said, the pickings are pretty slim at 10 as definitely feels like we’ve fallen outside blue chip territory at least for DL.

That pick will climb back up. Saints lose 4 of their next 5. Book it. 

[Waiting4Someday]

22 minutes ago, nipples said:

That pick will climb back up. Saints lose 4 of their next 5. Book it. 

That will get us back to about #7 assuming a 6-11 record settles in where it did last year in terms of draft order.

[Aerolithe_Lion]

Now again a top 5 pick. Philosophy-wise, I’d be more interested in Jalen Carter… but if Will is as great a prospect as most here say he is, then I’m all for it.

One of the two or a huge haul from a QB-needy team. Anything less would be a bit disappointing

[Waiting4Someday]

1 hour ago, Aerolithe_Lion said:

Now again a top 5 pick. Philosophy-wise, I’d be more interested in Jalen Carter… but if Will is as great a prospect as most here say he is, then I’m all for it.

One of the two or a huge haul from a QB-needy team. Anything less would be a bit disappointing

Philosophy-wise I think we’d need to be less multiple with Anderson onboard as you’d want him and Reddick on the field a lot. 4 man fronts would be a bit dicey, unless you were pass-only situation. I wouldn’t pass on getting a Parson-like player again though (not that I knew MP would be the pass rusher he has become).

[Aerolithe_Lion]

1 hour ago, Waiting4Someday said:

Philosophy-wise I think we’d need to be less multiple with Anderson onboard as you’d want him and Reddick on the field a lot. 4 man fronts would be a bit dicey, unless you were pass-only situation. I wouldn’t pass on getting a Parson-like player again though (not that I knew MP would be the pass rusher he has become).

Both are solid choices; I simply believe a dominant DT who can pass rush and is good against the run is much rarer and improves the line/defense more than a dominant edge. So the question there is "Is Will that much better a prospect than Jalen?”

[Waiting4Someday]

5 hours ago, Aerolithe_Lion said:

Both are solid choices; I simply believe a dominant DT who can pass rush and is good against the run is much rarer and improves the line/defense more than a dominant edge. So the question there is "Is Will that much better a prospect than Jalen?”

It’s very close  - I agree that it is harder to find a 3T later in this draft while there appears to be a handful of promising 3-4 OLB types (we also have a couple on the roster).  I imagine that they’ll extend Hargrave and not leave that role uncovered.