The Arkansas Razorbacks are coming off a heartbreaking loss to their rival Texas A&M in a tightly contested one-score game. The Razorbacks, though, still boast a pretty competitive SEC team with a lot of future NFL talents, and one of them that has stood out to me is Linebacker Drew Sanders. Formerly of the Alabama Crimson Tide (whom the Razorbacks play against this Saturday) for the last two years, including last year playing behind the likes of Dallas Turner and potential 2023 NFL Draft Top 5 pick Will Anderson Jr. Sanders was a five-star recruit out of Denton, Texas who was deemed the #1 rated athlete according to 247Sports 2020 High School football rankings. Transferring to Arkansas ahead of the 2022 season, Sanders has been an impressive contributor to the Razorbacks’ defense, and here is why I believe he has the makings of a top prospect for the upcoming NFL Draft.
Drew Sanders, 6’5” 232 lbs, Arkansas (Junior)
Current Season’s Stats:
- 31 tackles (16 solos), 5.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 2 passes defended in 4 games played
Strengths:
- Has an outstanding combination of size, speed, agility, length, explosiveness, and twitchiness.
- He is really bendy and flexible, which helps him gain leverage rushing the passer and coming low versus blocks despite being a really tall linebacker
- A really versatile athlete who is used as an off-the-ball linebacker that rushes the passer from the EDGE on passing downs
- He’s a really good pass rusher who could’ve been a top prospect even at that position and is currently tied for the nation’s leader in sacks with 5.5 in only four games while primarily being an off-the-ball linebacker.
- He shows a variety of pass-rushing moves as he can speed rush by bending the corner with a shoulder dip, can spin move as a counter move if his initial move doesn’t work, as
- He is a powerful and explosive wrap-up tackler when he doesn’t miss tackles and already has 2 forced fumbles this season.
- Shows really good fluidity and range dropping into zone coverage, and covering running backs out of the backfield in man-to-man assignments.
- Excellent motor from snap-to-snap, and plays with pure aggression.
- Shows powerful hands at the point of attack to stack blockers, and he uses his long arms to keep his distance from blockers and allow himself to relocate to the ball.
- Is still scratching the surface of how good he can be as a defender.
Former Alabama 5 ⭐ LB Drew Sanders currently leads the nation in sacks with Arkansas.
Oh the possibilities that could have been on this defense 😱 pic.twitter.com/qGBanJhlKR
— Touchdown Alabama (@TDAlabamaMag) September 26, 2022
Weaknesses:
- Needs to learn to come under control in pursuing ball carriers, he is a tad too frenetic, which leads to too many missed tackles that led to big plays for the opposite team
- Can also improve his feel for maneuvering through blocks against the run as he can be sealed inside by not feeling the incoming blocker’s angle
- He is currently playing in his first season of starting experience after transferring from Alabama and was a full-time EDGE Rusher then.
Pro comparison: T.J. Watt
System Fit: Any defense that wants to use him in a Micah Parsons-type role as an off-the-ball linebacker which major pass-rushing talents or purely as a 3-4 Rush Linebacker like T.J. Watt
Draft Projection: At his current trajectory, I believe he will end up a Top 10 pick due to his unique skillset while being an elite athlete at the position.
