2023 NFL Draft Profile: LB Nick Anderson

The Giants badly need linebacker help. Could Tulane's Nick Anderson provide it?

Author:
Nick Falato
Publish date:
Feb 4, 2023 4:57 PM EST

In this story:

Nick Anderson, LB

Height: 5-foot-10
Weight: 225 lbs.
Class: Senior
School: Tulane

A former two-star prospect who was the 41st player coming out of Vicksburg High School in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Finished third as the valedictorian in his high school class. Anderson spent a season at Jones County Junior College.

Notables

A productive undersized linebacker with a versatile skill set, who was a team captain during Tulane’s magical 2022 season. Anderson recorded 113 tackles, 7 for a loss, 44 STOPs, 2 sacks, 30 pressures, and 4 passes defended in 2022. He finished his time at Tulane with 283 tackles, 29 for a loss, 8.5 sacks, 60 pressures, 118 STOPs, and 6 passes defended. Anderson was not invited to the East-West Shrine Bowl or the Reese’s Senior Bowl.

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Strengths

Solid athlete with very good closing burst
Explosive athlete when moving downhill
Good change of direction and ability to maintain a low profile
Solid acceleration, speed, agility, and foot speed in pursuit
Good mental processing to key & diagnose running concepts
Does a good overall job staying square to the line of scrimmage and attacking downhill to fill
Short player who used his natural leverage to his advantage
Good play strength when moving forward - delivers a punch
Very good penetration ability - understands how to get small/skinny through narrow crevices
Was fun to watch WRs attempt to block him - would embarrass them with power
Violent, violent, violent tackler - lays the boom
Sure low wrap-up tackler
Was used 158 times as a pass-rusher, with plenty of snaps on the EDGE
Flashed several different pass-rushing moves with solid body control and explosiveness
Bull-rush was maximized by his low leverage and lower leg drive - won high-side with speed and a nice rip move
Had the ability to counter and seemed to have a pass-rush plan despite being a LB

Outside spin move versus the Bearcats Q4 4:24 3rd&11 INC
Inside spin move versus UCF Q2 00:38 1st&10 Sack-Fumble

Hips open and close well enough to allow him to stay in phase against TEs on vertical concepts
Solid ball skills when he was given the opportunity to disrupt stick routes from the No. 3, RBs, or TEs.
People rave about his maturity and locker-room presence
Helped embody Tulane’s 1-0 mentality that turned the program around in 2022
Reportedly a very smart student in college

Weaknesses

Height and length are issues teams won’t ignore
Very short
Limited tackle radius due to short arms
Solid athlete, but not a difference-making one to compensate for his lack of size
Height seemed to play a factor - at times - in allowing him to key the ball and see over the bigger players in the trenches
Lack of length allows climbing linemen to remove him if they make contact

Summary

Nick Anderson’s size is his biggest downfall, and that’s unfortunate because he’s a good football player. He is definitely the type of guy everyone wants to succeed, and it was a joy of mine to evaluate his film. I stumbled across his film while analyzing fellow Green Wave linebacker Dorian Williams. Anderson’s measurables may prevent him from being selected in the 2023 NFL Draft; if he were 6’2, his name would be well known.

Anderson is reportedly an excellent locker room presence with not just a high football IQ but a very smart young man in the classroom. His closing burst, ability to slip around blocks and his physical nature at the tackle point are all reasons to buy in. However, it’s difficult to ignore his lack of size; if he were taller/longer, this grade would be higher. He’ll likely go undrafted, but he deserves to be drafted based on his overall ability to play football.

GRADE: 5.8