FB Video: Utah's Bradlee Anae drafted No. 179 overall to the Dallas Cowboys

In what was one of the more shocking drops in the NFL draft, Utah's career sack leader Bradlee Anae fell all the way to the fifth round where the Dallas Cowboys happily picked him up

Round after round, pick after pick, Bradlee Anae sat with his phone in hand waiting for it to ring. 

After all, Utah, a school that churns out high-quality NFL players, is where Anae starred and became the school's all-time career sack leader with 30. Yet for whatever reason, the 2019 consensus All-American couldn't get his phone to ring despite being projected to be taken in the third round by most mock drafts.

Then it came. His phone finally rang and speaking on the other end was arguably the most famous person in the NFL's world — Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. Anae found out that he would be heading the America's team and Jerry World after the Cowboys selected him with the 179th overall pick in the fifth round.

“The Cowboys just drafted a consensus All-American pass rusher with a compensatory pick at the end of the fifth round. Hard to argue with that,” Dallas Cowboys writer Rob Phillips said following Anae's selection.

Listen as the #DallasCowboys call @BradleeAnae to tell him that he is officially a Cowboy! #CowboysDraft

🔊 Secret Audio presented by @ATT pic.twitter.com/klziTcTtv2

— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) April 25, 2020

This is a very good landing spot for Anae considering he'll be able to learn under one of the best pass rushers in the game in DeMarcus Lawrence. As of now, it appears Anae will serve as a backup to Lawrence on the left side, but I wouldn't be shocked if he was moved over to the right side to serve as Tyrone Crawford's backup for the time being.

Not the most athletic or with the best 40-yard dash time — which is one of the reasons Anae dropped so much in the draft — Anae is simply relentless and gets the job done. 

Physical and with great use of his hands, Anae racked up 13 sacks as a senior, 11 of which came on the right side against opposing left tackles. I think that's where he fits best in the NFL and where he'll get most of his opportunities. 

Right now, Dallas' starting defensive line is pretty much set but the opportunity for backups is where Anae will get his chance. I predict he'll start as a backup on the right side and could potentially become a starter in year two or three if he progresses more.