Troy Andersen NFL Draft Overview
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 235 pounds
Position: Linebacker
School: Montana State
Troy Andersen 2022 NFL Draft Profile
“If you can play, they will find you.” It’s a phrase often used when it comes to small-school prospects in any of the major sports. For Troy Andersen, it is reality. Andersen’s career has been all over the place. As a freshman in 2017, Andersen was the starting running back and started a few games at linebacker. He earned All-Big Sky Freshman of the Year honors for his efforts. As a sophomore, Andersen was the Bobcats quarterback and earned first-team All-Big Sky and third-team All-American honors.
In 2019, he moved to linebacker full-time. He finished with 54 tackles, 11.5 for loss, 6.5 sacks, and an interception. The man of many talents locked up first-team All-Big Sky and first-team All-American honors for his play yet again. In 2020, while the FCS decided to move their season to the spring, Montana State elected to just cancel their season altogether. 2021 rolled around and Andersen picked up where he left off. He was extremely productive in the Bobcats 15 games, notching 147 tackles, 14 for loss, two sacks, two interceptions, and a recovered fumble. He ended his career with another first-team All-American and first-team All-Big Sky selections to go with FCS and Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year awards.
Strengths
- Sideline-to-sideline speed
- Positional versatility, will be a valuable special teamer
- Solid tackler with plenty of pop
- Has the athleticism to be good in coverage
- To the right team, he could take offensive snaps
- Can slip blocks
- Is a leader of men (three-time captain)
Weaknesses
- Very raw at linebacker
- Can take bad angles in space
- False steps cause a late break when pursuing downhill
- Often tackles head down
- Played at FCS level, NFL can be a massive culture shock
Projection: Third Round
Teams With Need at Position: Houston Texans, Las Vegas Raiders, New York Giants, Washington Commanders, New York Jets, Philadelphia Eagles
NFL Comparison: Kenneth Murray
Bottom Line on Troy Andersen
Andersen is an uber-athlete. In his four seasons, he played significant time at quarterback, running back, safety, and linebacker. If there is one word to describe Andersen’s NFL linebacker prospects, it’s “raw.” At Montana State, his athleticism was enough for him to get by. He can defend sideline-to-sideline and ran a 4.42 at the Combine. There will be an NFL team that falls in love with how athletic he is. Since 1987, only three linebackers have scored a perfect 10.0 RAS. Andersen is one.
His first year in the NFL will be a learning experience but he has the ability to minimize some of the larger growing pains. He fits as a weak-side 4-3 linebacker who can be tasked with covering plenty of space. While his ball skills are not what they need to be in order to be an elite linebacker, he has the speed to be in a position to make a play. Put him in a 3-4/5-2 kind of system and he can be a versatile pseudo-EDGE player.
The expectations for Andersen will not be lofty right out of the gate. He is a quintessential “football guy” and will do whatever it takes to get onto the field. Give him a shot in just about any position and he will show what he can do. Depending on how the day two selections fall, Andersen could end up as a mid-third round pick with plenty of upside.
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