Dallas Turner shares impact Will Anderson made on current Alabama players
Dallas Turner and the rest of the current Alabama defense holds Will Anderson in high regard for the impact he made on them.
While Anderson is with the Texans now, drafted third overall by Houston during the 2023 NFL Draft, his fingerprints are all over this season’s Crimson Tide squad. Speaking with the media at SEC Media Days, Turner elaborated on the feelings he and the rest of the Alabama defense has for their former teammate.
“I mean, more importantly, like, Will, he has paved the way for a lot of guys in the linebacker room,” explained Turner. “There are also guys that can come and fill those shoes, replace him in some way, like Chris Braswell, Keanu Koht, Quandarrius Robinson, Jeremiah Alexander, guys like that.
“A lot of guys like that looked up to Will, seeing what he did, seeing him grow, make mistakes. We just learned from that, keep going off of it.”
Alas, Will Anderson was a trailblazer, and defenders like Turner are looking to follow in his footsteps. It’ll be fascinating to watch both Anderson’s career and his former teammate’s success moving forward, as it’s evident an impact was made, and they’ll always be intertwined.
Dallas Turner expects Alabama’s defense to be ‘Joyless Murderball’
Continuing, many Alabama fans are hoping their team gets back to what they like to call “Joyless Murderball” on the football field. A ruthless level of dominance on the gridiron that was once rather routine for the Crimson Tide during the Nick Saban era.
However, there has been a new king in college football the past two seasons, Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs. They’ve won the last two national crowns and are shooting for a historic third straight national title this year.
For Alabama to get back to ‘Joyless Murderball’, they’ll certainly need players like the freakishly talented Turner to dominate the defensive side of the football. At the SEC Media Days in Nashville, Tennessee, Turner said the expectation in Tuscaloosa is for the team to return to that elite level of dominance.
“The expectations, Joyless Murderball, pre-season, of course. There’s a lot of guys on the defense that can run around, fly around, make good plays,” Turner said.
If the Crimson Tide are looking for a man to fly around and make plays on the defensive side of the ball, Turner is one of the best places in the country to start. He’s racked up 12.5 sacks during his first two seasons in Tuscaloosa and figures to be a top selection in the 2024 NFL Draft.