Draft expert: Dallas Turner and Will Anderson ‘not similar at all’
Former Alabama linebacker Dallas Turner is a good bet to be the first pass rusher selected in next week's NFL draft, just as former Crimson Tide linebacker Will Anderson was a year ago. But while the former UA teammates, who played together in college for two seasons, might be similar in terms of height and weight, they get to the quarterback with very different skill sets, said NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah.
“They are not similar at all. Dallas has a little more juice in terms of his get-off and burst. It's pretty elite. He's a better bender. He's a more fluid and loose athlete than Will,” Jeremiah said Thursday on a media teleconference. “Will, he's got a lot more horsepower, and not just with the bull rush. Playing through blocks, he's a little more (able to) knock (blockers) back at the point of attack against the run, whereas Turner more uses his length to set the edge.”
Anderson wasted no time translating his style into NFL success. Selected No. 3 overall by the Houston Texans last year, he notched seven regular-season sacks as a rookie, plus another in the playoffs, among 45 tackles. He also blocked a kick against the Jacksonville Jaguars in September, and went on to earn AP NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year honors.
Similar production will be the hope of the NFL club that selects Turner, who enjoyed his best college season last year with 10 sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss to help lead UA to an SEC championship season. Jeremiah said he believes Turner's physicality is better than some
“Offensively, he's been one of the best players in the country all year,” Alabama coach Nate Oats said Thursday. “We would not be in the Final Four if it wasn't for Mark
Sears' defense, leadership. He's turned it around a lot in regard to that the last month.”
Sears also declared for the NBA Draft after the 2022-23 season and went through the process but decided to stay in college for another season. That led to him cementing his legacy as one of the all-time greats.
“We've had some great players come through the University of Alabama, but Mark Sears, he's stamped his legacy,” former Alabama player and assistant coach Antoine Pettway said. “He had one of the most memorable NCAA Tournaments in the history of the University of Alabama. He's going to go down as a legend in my book.”
Nick Kelly is the Alabama beat writer for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network, and he covers Alabama football and men's basketball. Reach him at nkelly@gannett.com or follow him @_NickKelly on X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter.