Troy Freaking Andersen!

[BLACKnBLUEnGOLD]

If they can convince NFL scouts that he's some kind of Brian Urlacher/Christian McCaffrey/Cooper Kupp/Taysom Hill hybrid I'm all for it.

Urlacher actually did play receiver in college.

[coloradocat]

If they can convince NFL scouts that he's some kind of Brian Urlacher/Christian McCaffrey/Cooper Kupp/Taysom Hill hybrid I'm all for it.

Urlacher actually did play receiver in college.

Did he, or did someone just write that in an article?

[BigBruceBaker]

Biggest winners from 2022 Senior Bowl week
https://draftwire.usatoday.com/lists/20 ... an-watson/

Troy Anderson
There were many eyes on the small-school standout who made the conversion from quarterback/running back/wide receiver to linebacker, and his play raised their eyebrows. With his impressive athleticism, Andersen looked comfortable dropping back and making plays in coverage. His speed and range enabled him to move freely from sideline to sideline and make stops on opposing ball carriers. Andersen also showed plenty of special teams upside, as he was consistently the first guy down the field on coverage units.

https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl-draft-qb-m ... 34016.html
Troy Anderson
There was some real fascination with how Andersen might perform at the event, and some evaluators came in thinking that the converted receiver might be a candidate to move back to offense in the NFL.

That still could happen, but the way Andersen performed on defense opened eyes. He showed a lot more comfort moving in reverse after mainly being used as a pass rusher in college. Andersen suddenly has a lot of evaluators going back to the tape to see how best to unlock his fascinating skill set.

https://www.bigblueview.com/2022/2/6/22 ... e-analysis
LB Troy Andersen, Montana State

Andersen was a big fish in a small pond at Montana State. He proved his status as a true NFL linebacker at the Senior Bowl. He’s a linebacker with good coverage skills, and made a great play on the football against Turner on this red zone fade:

One-on-one coverage drills are incredibly difficult on the defenders. There’s so much space and time to account for, and the offense is always at an advantage. Andersen recovers so well after a nice route from the tight end:

The plays in one-on-one are nice, but plays like this in team periods are very impressive. Andersen fights through two blocks, moves laterally while keeping his eyes on the running back’s path, and then puts himself in position to make a tackle if it were contact:

Troy Anderson was the leading receiver for the last 7 years at MSU. Averaging 372 yards from scrimmage a game receiving.

Troy Andersen is a legit nfl linebacking prospect.

Man some of these dudes need to do some research before just spouting off crap.

If they can convince NFL scouts that he's some kind of Brian Urlacher/Christian McCaffrey/Cooper Kupp/Taysom Hill hybrid I'm all for it.

Sorry dude, get your factoids straight.

Mr. Troy Andersen is the Michael Jordan of receiving Offensive Guards (27 receiving TD's after pancakes in the last games of the season), his hands are like Jerry Rice's and he smacks people back into next century like Reginald White all while shaking hands and kissing babies like Lawrence Taylor at Dick Butkus's funeral. Andersen once caught a football so hard. ....end of story. No one knows what happened after that.

In all seriousness I love all the love and press both Andersen and MSU are getting, but man do guys need to do a little research.

[coochorama42]

What are the realistic ranges for his 40? I’m assuming in the 4.5 range but that’ll go a long ways towards determining his round

4.55-4.65. An 11 second 100m dash time correlates to a 4.6 40 yard dash time. I think that TA lands about there - putting him in about the 75th percentile for all LB. The number to watch for is his shuttle run. If he can get above the 75th percentile there (and put in a 4.6 or so 40), he's a 3rd rounder at worst.

He ran 10.8 100 meters in HS and there is no doubt he is faster than that now. In January he was in CA at a training facility with 15-20 other senior LBs and DBs, mostly Senior Bowl invites, and was the fastest player there. I wouldn't be surprised if he is sub 4.55, maybe high 4.4s. He will run a good shuttle, have a good vertical jump and he is going to crush the interviews and intelligence parts of the combine. The teams are going to be blown away with him in the interview room and his football IQ. Agree with you, I think it will be shocking if he makes it past the 3rd round.

I agree. He will be a big winner at the combine. My gut instint tells me that he will be picked at the end of the 2nd round/beginning of the 3rd round just because the position he plays is so low in terms of importance in the modern NFL. I don't know if people realize how good the tape is on people like Micah Parsons or Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah that vaults them high into the first round. A day one LB in the NFL draft will be expected to go cover Travis Kelce and Darren Waller or chase down Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson on day one. A day two guy will probably at least have some help in those assignments.

The thing that TA has going for him is that he has been very good in coverage since the transition to LB. His ceiling in pass coverage is pretty elite, so someone is going to take a risk on him rather than drafting a solid run-stuffing LB out of an elite school (unless they are Nick Bolton). That's why that shuttle drill is so important for him. I join in almost everyone on BN in feeling that whomever drafts TA will get an absolute steal starting anywhere in the 2nd round (this would be an incredibly high pick for any LB that does not have 2+ years of elite play in the SEC, ACC, Big Ten, etc.).

[kennethnoisewater]

What are the realistic ranges for his 40? I’m assuming in the 4.5 range but that’ll go a long ways towards determining his round

4.55-4.65. An 11 second 100m dash time correlates to a 4.6 40 yard dash time. I think that TA lands about there - putting him in about the 75th percentile for all LB. The number to watch for is his shuttle run. If he can get above the 75th percentile there (and put in a 4.6 or so 40), he's a 3rd rounder at worst.

I might be way off on this, but it seems to me the 40 isn't the best measure of TA's speed. It's almost too short a distance for him to really show what he can do. If the 40 puts him in the 75th percentile, I'd be willing to bet he'd be in the 85th or better in the 100. I'm not dying on this hill, just my perception.

But I've always thought the shuttle run was the better measure. When I've coached I've used the shuttle run as a way to measure and even teach a player's motor. If you run the 40 once, you're not improving on that by much if you keep running it. But if you run the shuttle run and tell a kid their time and encourage them to beat it, they're going to beat it by quite a bit if you give them a few more tries. The kids with a high motor don't improve by a ton because they went so hard the first time. TA will show off his motor as much as his speed, and I think that bumps him up.

[bpcats20]

Listened to Mel Kiper and Todd Mcshay podcast today… thought Troy would not get out of the 3rd round without being drafted.

Mel compared him to Milano lb from Bills. Someone who would never leave the field.

[thisnamesucks]

Listened to Mel Kiper and Todd Mcshay podcast today… thought Troy would not get out of the 3rd round without being drafted.

Mel compared him to Milano lb from Bills. Someone who would never leave the field.

Got a link and or time stamps??

[AFCAT]

[Ryan-S]

https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/ ... 0d7bbc2200
14:30 mark
32:20 mark

[TomCat88]

https://www.patriots.com/news/2022-patr ... ft-tracker

Zack Patraw of SI.com has Andersen going in the first round to the Patriots.

[MSU01]

https://www.patriots.com/news/2022-patr ... ft-tracker

Zack Patraw of SI.com has Andersen going in the first round to the Patriots.

This mock draft consisted of only Senior Bowl players, so definitely an artificially inflated projection.

[bpcats20]

Talked briefly at 16 minute mark and then more in depth at 33:50 mark

[VimSince03]

https://www.patriots.com/news/2022-patr ... ft-tracker

Zack Patraw of SI.com has Andersen going in the first round to the Patriots.

Tom...we've talked about this.

[Helcat]

https://connect.zebra.com/SrBowlInsights
Hopefully this link to zebra technologies that tracked the players in the senior bowl works. To summarize, Troy hit 20.29mph for the sixth best linebacker for the past 4 senior bowls (101 linebackers) and the top max acceleration of 6.01 yards per second squared. His max acceleration is 6th best for all players for the past 4 years. Not sure what it means for 40 times or how much teams use it for scouting purposes, but impressive nonetheless

[BLACKnBLUEnGOLD]

If they can convince NFL scouts that he's some kind of Brian Urlacher/Christian McCaffrey/Cooper Kupp/Taysom Hill hybrid I'm all for it.

Urlacher actually did play receiver in college.

Did he, or did someone just write that in an article?

https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/pl ... her-1.html

[TomCat88]

https://www.patriots.com/news/2022-patr ... ft-tracker

Zack Patraw of SI.com has Andersen going in the first round to the Patriots.

This mock draft consisted of only Senior Bowl players, so definitely an artificially inflated projection.

I thought since it was part of all the mock drafts 21st picks you guys wouldn’t catch it. I’m impressed.
I shouldn’t have given out so many clues.

[Travelingcat]

I'm too lazy to find the link, but Todd McShay has Andersen ranked 81st overall in his new ESPN mock draft. Mid third-round sounds about right for the consensus for me, but, if his health checks out, I think this prediction has more upside than downside.

Those speed numbers linked above by Helcat suggest that Andersen's athleticism, while appreciated, is still being underrated and that he is a truly elite athletic prospect with a 1st round athletic profile. I think if he tests well at the combine, he could easily move into the 2nd round. He's got top production, top character, and top athleticism-- his only big question mark is his mastery of the details of LB play, and I'd happily bet on the Intelligence of an academic All-American to figure it out.

Personally, there is obviously a lot of projection involved with an FCS prospect, and he still will need time to learn the nuances of the position, but I think Andersen is much more likely to be Pro Bowler than he is a career backup, and if I were an NFL team, I'd draft him accordingly.

[94VegasCat]

A year ago there was a team with guy in our conference that the alum of said team, was a lock for the NFL due to his greatness. I don’t know what that kid does today, but it’s not the NFL.

Is Troy Anderson a lock per us fans or is he a lock per NFL guys in the know. (Mel Kiper is an idiot)

In my opinion, TA will play as long as he wants or can due to health.

[VimSince03]

A year ago there was a team with guy in our conference that the alum of said team, was a lock for the NFL due to his greatness. I don’t know what that kid does today, but it’s not the NFL.

Is Troy Anderson a lock per us fans or is he a lock per NFL guys in the know. (Mel Kiper is an idiot)

In my opinion, TA will play as long as he wants or can due to health.

100% agree.

Dante Olson was a star in the Big Sky and FCS but his lack of lateral quickness and overall speed to be a professional linebacker should have been clear to most evaluators (and in the end it was). Simply put, Dante projected as a two-down linebacker who excels at stopping north/south run schemes but was a complete liability in pass coverage. Could've been a great special teams player but NFL scouts can find those guys anywhere.

Troy is different because 1) he's a better overall athlete and 2) better overall football player than Dante. Doesn't really have to be more discussion past that as it isn't very hard to understand.

[Montanabob]

A year ago there was a team with guy in our conference that the alum of said team, was a lock for the NFL due to his greatness. I don’t know what that kid does today, but it’s not the NFL.

Is Troy Anderson a lock per us fans or is he a lock per NFL guys in the know. (Mel Kiper is an idiot)

In my opinion, TA will play as long as he wants or can due to health.

Can someone check McDonald's?