Overview
Position: Running back
Height: 6’0”
Weight: 224 pounds
School: Oklahoma Sooners
Rodney Anderson is a redshirt junior out of Katy, TX. He was a consensus four-star recruit out of high school, where he averaged 9.1 yards per carry his senior year. Anderson played just two games during his freshman year at Oklahoma before suffering a season-ending leg injury. He came into his sophomore year with the hopes of gaining the starting role but missed the entire season due to an injury sustained during camp.
Anderson really took flight in 2017 when he was finally able to put together a large number of games played. He played in every one of the Sooners games where he started seven of them. He rushed 188 times for 1,161 yards and a whopping 13 touchdowns. He also had 17 grabs for 281 yards and five touchdowns through the air. Anderson was named All-Big 12 Second Team and All-Big 12 Honorable Mention for Offensive Newcomer of the Year by league’s coaches.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to duplicate his prior year’s success. Anderson suffered a torn ACL on the final play of the first quarter in the Sooners second game. What was expected to be a promising final year for Anderson was all but that as he was forced to miss the entire season. The good news for him, this running back class is not as deep as to prior years.
Strengths
- Excellent balance;
- Great contact balance;
- Keeps his feet moving through contact;
- Quick feet;
- Makes hard and dynamic cuts;
- Very shifty and agile;
- Fluid lateral movement;
- Enough wiggle to make him hard to bring down;
- A combination of power and finesse to his game;
- Good vision;
- Explosive through the hole and in open space;
- Soft hands in the passing game;
- High points the ball well;
- Good body control;
- Very good ball skills.
Weaknesses
- Durability concerns;
- Long torso makes him a bullseye for defenders;
- Doesn’t get his pad level low;
- Won’t absorb contact well;
- Pass protection is subpar;
- Doesn’t square up his defenders;
- Drops his head.
NFL Comparison: Arian Foster
Teams With Need at Position: Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, Baltimore Ravens, Jacksonville Jaguars, Kansas City Chiefs, Oakland Raiders, Philadelphia Eagles, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Projection: Third round
Bottom Line
Without question, Rodney Anderson is one of the best running backs in this class. He possesses many desirable traits NFL scouts will fall in love with. His tremendous contact balance makes him a nightmare to bring down. He’s powerful and strong enough to keep his legs churning and muscle through tackles to gain extra yards. With his power comes grace. He has lightning quick feet. He makes quick and decisive cuts and they’re elusive enough to confuse defenders and force them to take false steps.
Anderson is extremely agile and quick. His lateral movement is very fluid and is kept intact. It’s hard to find any wasted movement in his game. He has a little wiggle to him that makes him tough and awkward to bring down, enough to force missed tackles. He has very good vision. He sees a hole and can really explode through it. Even in the open field, he’s able to find space and make his defender miss. The passing game is where he really excels. He’s arguably the best back in this class at receiving the ball out of the backfield. He has very soft hands. Rarely do you see him have a ball bounce off of his hands. At his size, it really helps him high point the ball and when he’s in the air his body control is superb.
There are also some concerns as well. The obvious is his injury history. In the four years he was enrolled at Oklahoma, Anderson played just 17 games. He has a long torso that makes him a target for defenders. He has a difficult time getting his pad level down which contributes to that as well. He absorbs contact fairly poorly. Like most young running backs, he does not excel in pass protection. He has a hard time squaring up his defenders and he drops his head which makes him fairly easy to walk around for blitzing defenders.
