Will Anderson addresses sack competition between Alabama linebackers

Will Anderson was the sack king at Alabama this past season, but it appears he’ll face some competition from his fellow linebackers in 2022. At a press conference Monday, it was revealed that the Crimson Tide linebackers have agreed to partake in a “sack competition” to see who can get to the quarterback the most this season.

Although Anderson led the country with 17.5 sacks a year ago, players such as Henry To’oTo’o and Dallas Turner believe they are just as capable. Anderson said that friendly competition among teammates will ultimately make the defense better in 2022.

“I think that’s the great thing about playing defense and that’s a great mentality to have,” he said. “All the guys are hungry. We want it. When you have a defense like that, special things happen because everybody wants to get to the end goal. Everybody wants to make plays. Everybody wants to play as a unit. That’s one thing we want to do this year. We want to build that team chemistry. We want to be a fast and physical defense. We want to be attentive to detail. I think that’s something we’ve been working on this offseason that we’re gonna get to.”

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Alabama ranked third nationally in sacks per game this past season with 3.8. Anderson’s 17.5 earned him the No. 1 ranking individually, while Turner finished with 8.5 to tie for the fourth-most in the SEC. With Alabama set to return so much experience from last year, Will Anderson expects the linebackers to come out even stronger in 2022.

“I’m excited about all the guys in our room,” he said. “Dallas has been doing a great job taking coaching. They’ve got him around a lot of places and things like that and he’s been good learning the plays and why we do certain things on the defense. It’s been good. I’m very excited to see him play. He’s been doing a great job.”

The Crimson Tide defense ranked second in the SEC to only Georgia this past season, allowing 302.9 yards per game. However, with the Bulldogs losing numerous players from their historic defense to the NFL, it could open the door for Alabama to take the top spot this season. Anderson provided a preview of what that might look like for opposing quarterbacks.

“It would be very lethal, very scary,” he said. “A lot of good guys. I’m not gonna go into too much depth, but when the season comes you guys will see.”

Alabama is set to kick off the 2022 season on Sept. 3 against Utah State.