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Todd McShay defends Will Anderson's spot atop NFL Draft board

On3 imageby:Andrew Graham10/21/22

AndrewEdGraham

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(Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images)

Todd McShay was borderline exasperated discussing Will Anderson naysayers on “The Paul Finebaum Show” on Friday afternoon. He’s tired of the chatter about Anderson disappointing this season or not playing well.

Anderson has held up his end of the bargain even if the stats haven’t been stellar, McShay said. A couple of quiet performances on the stat sheet aren’t enough for the ESPN draft analyst to eschew the Alabama edge rusher from atop his draft board.

“I get it, the sack numbers maybe aren’t there,” McShay said. “He has five sacks on the season, but he has 10-and-a-half quarterback hurries, he’s consistently been in the backfield and causing trouble. So I don’t know what else people want from him. Every time a quarterback comes up to the line, they’re changing their offensive line protections to shift towards him. They’re doubling him, they’re chipping him, they’re doing all these different things. There are other players on the Alabama front that are capable of getting to the quarterback, yet we’re always talking about Will Anderson.”

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While there’s a chance Anderson might not be the top pick — a lot depends on the draft positions and trades by quarterback-needy teams — McShay sees the talent.

There’s also plenty that people watching just the games can’t see.

“So, I see the best player in college football in No. 31. To me, the way he not only can win with speed and quickness but also power. The way he comes to practice every day. The way he works. The energy he brings to the field. He’s everything you look for in a No. 1 overall pick. And more importantly for the season and Alabama, he’s bringing everything to the table that they’ve asked him to do. And he’s playing at a really high level. So I get it, people are sitting on the couch, they’re going on the internet, they look at the five sacks and see that he wasn’t disrupting the game,” McShay said. “It’s not on Will Anderson.”