Will Anderson gives great answer to question about looking ahead on Alabama's schedule

Alabama linebacker Will Anderson, Jr. is one of the most feared defenders in all of college football. He generated some Heisman buzz last year and many are projecting him to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.

On Friday, the star linebacker joined The Paul Finebaum Show talked about the Crimson Tide’s schedule this year and how his team is just taking it one game at a time, just like his head coach Nick Saban preaches to the team. “No, even though I know most every team that we have on the schedule, but we take it one game at a time. I think that’s what you have to do, take it one game at a time, you can’t look too far ahead. You always have to be where your feet are and make sure you’re not looking too far ahead. And Coach Saban always preaches that. So it’s been great. I do know the schedule, Utah State is up first and that’s the game we’re preparing for.”

On Friday’s episode of The Paul Finebaum Show, Anderson also explained the differences he’s seen from last year’s team to this year’s team.

Anderson also spoke about the differences between last season and the upcoming season

“I feel like last year we had a very young team. We just didn’t have enough players that knew what the ‘Alabama Standard’ was,” said Anderson on Friday’s version of The Paul Finebaum Show. “Since this offseason that’s going on, I feel like the young guys and the new recruits that have come in, they’ve done a tremendous job. I’ll give my hats off to them. They came right in and I feel like they already knew the standard. We’re really hungry. There wasn’t much we had to put into them. I feel like they got the presence that we’re not playing this year.”

At first glance, one might wonder why Anderson seemed so disappointed about last year. The Tide went 13-2 last season with a win in the SEC Championship and an appearance in the College Football Playoff. There lies the issue, though. Although they dismantled Cincinnati in the semifinal, they fell short of their ultimate goal by losing to Georgia in the National Championship.

At a program like Alabama, that’s not good enough in their minds. Six titles under Saban and three in the CFP era doesn’t meet the ‘standard’ they’ve bought into. Anderson says this group will have what it takes between their experienced pieces and new talent.

“We know what to expect, we know the standard. Just because we’re Alabama doesn’t mean people are going to lay down for us. We have to go out there and show why we are a dominant team,” said Anderson. “I think that’s what has carried over from spring ball to summer workouts. The expectations are high still, the standard is still going to the standard, and we’re just going to keep that moving forward and everybody get on board with that.”

With that in mind, their journey to meet that standard again will begin on September 3rd when they open the season against Utah State.

On3’s Sam Gillenwater also contributed to this article.