Will Anderson Jr.: LB · Alabama · #31.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Will Anderson Jr.
Fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge. Third year in the Alabama linebacker corps. All-America (Consensus) in 2022 made it three straight seasons on the honors list. On tape: 7 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss against Arkansas, Week 5, 2022.
Play style
Downhill striker who fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
51 tackles. 1 pass defended. 1 interception. 17 TFL.
Counts only, never a rate — splash-event sample sizes this small (interceptions, pass breakups, TFL) are noise as a rate and signal only as a tally.
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
Yahoo Sports Oct 28
Heavy Oct 28
Saturday Down South Oct 24
The Tuscaloosa News Oct 15Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
Game log · Week-by-week
2022 season · 12 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 55-0vs Utah State | 5 | 3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | W 20-19@ Texas | 5 | 2 | 2.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 63-7vs UL Monroe | 5 | 2 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | W 55-3vs Vanderbilt | 5 | 3 | 3.0 | 2.5 | — | 0 | 2.5 sacks |
| Wk 5 | W 49-26@ No. 20 Arkansas | 7 | 2 | 1.5 | 0.5 | — | 0 | Season-high 7 tackles |
| Wk 6 | W 24-20vs Texas A&M | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | L 49-52@ No. 6 Tennessee | 3 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | W 30-6vs No. 24 Mississippi State | 4 | 2 | 1.5 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | L 31-32@ No. 15 LSU | 2 | 0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | W 30-24@ No. 11 Ole Miss | 4 | 2 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | W 34-0vs Austin Peay | 4 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 13 | W 49-27vs Auburn | 5 | 4 | 3.0 | 2.0 | — | 0 | 2 sacks |
| Total | 51 | 24 | 17.0 | 10.0 | 1 | 1 |
Week 13 · 2022
W 49-27
vs Auburn
2 sacks · 3 tackles for loss · 5 tackles
Dominant 22-point win at home against Auburn.
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
Tackle volume
51tackles this seasonTFL rate
33%17 TFLSack rate
20%10 sacksPD rate
2%1 pass breakups51 tackles · 17 for loss · 10 sacks · 1 interception.
3 seasons under Nick Saban — 37-4 over that span.
Splits · Per-game
2022 season · 12 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home7g | 4.3 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 0.1 |
| Road5g | 4.2 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 4.6 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+5g | 3.8 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 0.2 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Nick Saban
Pass share
49.4%
438 pass / 448 run
Plays / game
68.2
13 games
Team sack rate
4.6%
476 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Player standing · 2022
First team on every major selector list.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Former five-star. Now #6 at the position.
Selector Grid · 2022
Named Consensus All-American — recognized on 3+ of the 5 NCAA-recognized selector lists.
Career, closed
Gone at #3 overall.
How it ended
Three seasons at Alabama, 202 tackles, the Chuck Bednarik Award (2022) — drafted at #3 overall by the Houston Texans.
Honored in a first season.
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-AMERICA · UNANIMOUS
Unanimous AA (2022)
Named to 9 first-team selectors
National awards
Bednarik, Lombardi, Lott IMPACT +1 more
2022 season
ALL-SEC · 1ST TEAM
All-SEC 1st team (2022)
Coaching lineage · 2020–2022
1 coachPlayed every college season under Nick Saban.
Next stop · NFL
Houston TexansEntering 4th NFL season
Houston TexansEntering 4th NFL season
