Drew Sanders

Pos: Linebacker

School: Arkansas

Ht. 6’5″ 

Wt. 233

Games Watched: Alabama(2022), Ole Miss(2021), Miss.State(2022), Texas A&M(2022)

One Liner: Versatile and long linebacker who wins with elite athletic ability and sideline to sideline range. Explosive player who can attack downhill quickly. 

Strengths: 

  • Very Good athletic ability. Sanders has excellent short area quickness and is able to attack the offensive line and enter the backfield in the blink of an eye. His lateral agility is on full display when he transitions into zone coverages or when he blitzes the QB. Versatility is boosted by his long and short speed. 
  • Very good explosiveness. Sanders can go sideline to sideline in pursuit and is driven by a ferocious motor. His burst of speed allows him to make plays on the ball in outside zones and stretch plays and attack gaps with speed and power. 
  • Very good motor. Sanders brings effort and motor on just about every play and consistently involves himself in plays in the backfield and in coverage. 
  • Very good ability to blitz the QB. Sanders is a former edge rusher from Alabama, so he is more experienced than most linebackers when it comes to blitzing. He has the speed to power conversion which contributes to his explosivness, but also has shown flashes of bending when blitzing and running the arc, something teams may be enamored with.
  • Good ability to shed blocks. Sanders has solid strength in his arms and upper body that allows him to stack and shed blocks against offensive lineman. His long arms allow him to make a play on the runner and evade blocks when he is unable to counter. 
  • Good instincts and keying ability in the run game. Sanders is quick to identify run plays, but also doesn’t overcommit too early and lose his gap assignment. He identifies the play and what is occurring at the mesh point, and is quick to react and explodes into the gap

Weaknesses:

  • Adequate to marginal ability to identify and key passing plays. Sanders looks adequate in zone coverage, but oftentimes seems confused, especially in buzz and hook zones where he is responsible for the middle of the field. There is room to grow here as it is his first year playing off ball. 
  • Marginal technique in terms of tackling. Sanders needs to grease his hips more and lacks fluidity currently. He also overpursues after keying, which results in him missing a lot of tackles. With his long arms and ability to shed, Sanders makes contact on a lot of plays but ends up missing tackles due to some stiffness in his hips that prevent him from being angular when bringing the ball carrier down. 
  • Adequate pad level, leverage and counters at the POA. Sanders has strength to engage and uses a long frame to make a play on the ball on running downs, however he needs to develop counters and focus on staying low with his 6’5” frame to avoid being sealed off. Working on counters for running downs and as a blitzer would also go a long way in helping him put his athleticism and explosiveness to use. 

Overall Assessment: Drew Sanders projects as a starting WILL or MIKE at the next level. He has scheme versatility that teams will love, as he played an EDGE role at Alabama, and transitioned quite smoothly to an off ball in 2022 at Arkansas. Sanders has the ability to combine traits from both positions, and flashed such ability on tape in 2022. He wins with intangible traits – long arms and explosiveness, combined with elite athletic traits that put him above the top as a linebacker. He has room to grow as a linebacker and his football IQ, as he could develop his instincts in the passing game where he is tasked with middle of the field responsibilities and man coverage duties. He wasn’t put to test in man coverage often at Arkansas, so his abilities in this aspect still have a question mark. Sanders athletic traits and explosiveness allow him to be a rangy defender with sideline to sideline pursuit ability, traits that could make him a a developmental starter as a rookie. With good coaching and a nuanced tackling technique and understanding of zone + man coverage, Sanders could be a long term + starter as a versatile piece on the front 7. 

Pro Comp: Anthony Barr

Scheme Fit: 4-3 WILL or SAM if he puts on weight. Could come in as a blitzer on late passing downs. 

Pick Projection: 1st round

Grade: 6.54