The Dominant Will Anderson Jr. Is Ready for His Encore

After an eye-popping season, the Alabama linebacker is back for more—including chasing the Heisman Trophy.

ATLANTA — Will Anderson Jr. admits he’s superstitious. His pregame meal is the exact same every Saturday: macaroni and cheese, lasagna, a little bit of ranch dressing and a Gatorade. When the NCAA Football video game returns, the Alabama star doesn’t want to be on the cover because he heard it’s bad luck.

While it might disappoint the folks at EA Sports, they’ll have to settle for designing his physical likeness for the Madden video game, because by this time next year Anderson will probably be preparing for his rookie year in the NFL. There are plenty of scouts and team personnel who think Anderson was good enough to come out at the end of the 2021 season, had he been eligible, and get picked near the top of a draft with a strong edge rusher class. But there were no thoughts of sitting out this season, he said Tuesday at SEC media days.

Anderson, seen here at SEC media days, was a unanimous first team All-American in 2021 :: Gary Cosby Jr./USA TODAY NETWORK

“I love football too much, I don't think I could sit out a year and not play football,” Anderson said. “I’d be too ready to get out there … I feel like the people that surround me, they know me well enough to know that no matter what we say to him, he’s not going to [sit out].”

His superstitions extend to when he has an annual goal-setting conversation with Alabama special assistant to the head coach Sal Sunseri, a longtime defensive line coach. Anderson went to Sunseri’s office, had the conversation, then printed the goals out and laminated them. He got one copy, Sunseri got the other. At the end of the season they’ll get together and assess which ones he achieved.

One significant achievement would be the Heisman Trophy. The linebacker would be the first defensive player to win it since Charles Woodson in 1997 if he can bring it home. Anderson finished fifth last year, behind Michigan DE Aidan Hutchinson, and he wasn’t invited to New York for the ceremony. But based on raw production, there will forever be a debate about which player was actually more outstanding in ‘21. Anderson’s sister, Shanice, told Sports Illustrated in December that she encouraged Will to use it as fuel to kick it up a notch. On Tuesday, Anderson told ESPN he’d like to win the Heisman to change the narrative of the award:

We had a great interview with Will Anderson, who is as personable off the field as he is noticeable on it. We talked a lot about the Heisman as an offensive award. "I'm really not even looking at it as [for] myself, but just for younger defensive players," he said.

— Heather Dinich (@CFBHeather) July 19, 2022

Even at a powerhouse like Alabama, Anderson is unique. Nick Saban has had plenty of great defensive players, but the Tide haven’t actually had the nation’s most elite pin-the-ears back edge rusher during his tenure. As long as he goes in the first round next year, it’ll be the highest an Alabama EDGE has gone under Saban, and Anderson could end up being the slam-dunk top pick with another great year.

And as good as Anderson is, he combines with bookend sophomore edge rusher Dallas Turner to create perhaps the nation’s most fearsome pass rushing tandem. Following Week 5 last fall, Turner became a consistent contributor for the Tide and had a 13.3% pressure rate on 181 pass rushes according to Sports Info Solutions. Both he and Anderson had 8.5 sacks each from November through the national title game. Alabama will have few problems simply rushing four and devoting seven bodies to coverage, which allows the Tide to be more complex on the back end because Turner and Anderson can take care of business up front without much need for stunts and twists and exotic blitzes.

“It feels amazing,” Anderson said. “You don’t have to have everybody worried about you. You have a player equally just as good as you on the other side that can wreak havoc as well. It’s so exciting … he’s gonna be a big piece of our defense this year.”

To get ready for this season, Anderson worked on getting his body up to what he calls a lean 250 pounds at Saban’s behest, and the linebacker joked he was a little surprised his suit still fit. He’s been developing his game by developing new pass rush moves, mainly a long-arm—a favorite of some of the NFL’s best pass rushers.

Examples of Khalil Mack's long-arm over the years: pic.twitter.com/lWeTy5Rqu1

— Brandon Thorn (@BrandonThornNFL) July 29, 2020

“Right now, we’re watching Nick Bosa and Von Miller,” Anderson said. “Those two have been the key players we’ve been hitting on because [outside linebackers coach Coleman Hutzler] thinks I’m kinda similar to them in terms of some of the stuff I do.”

He’ll join them soon, but for now Anderson’s junior season awaits. There will definitely be 12 more macaroni and cheese, lasagna, ranch and Gatorade pregame meals. If Anderson plays like he did last year, there may be a couple more, too, as he chases quarterbacks and the Tide chase yet another title. 

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