Nick Saban on Will Anderson: 'You should be talking about him every week'

With the season four games in, the buzz around Alabama’s Will Anderson Jr. has quieted to a degree. It’s not that he’s not still one of the best in college football or not still arguably the best 2023 NFL Draft prospect. It’s just that the storyline about him has slowed with other stories emerging in the early part of the 2022 season. However, Nick Saban couldn’t agree less with the attention leaving Anderson.

Saban talked about the Crimson Tide star during media after Alabama’s 55-3 win over Vanderbilt on Saturday. He said he’d talk about him if no one else would because of all the special things he brings to the table both on and off the football field.

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“Will’s a good player. I mean you should be talking about him every week. He makes a lot of plays, makes sacks, plays hard, prepares well, and is a great leader on the team. I’d talk about him for as long as you want to talk about him,” said Saban. “(He) played that way last year, he plays that way this year. It’s important to him and he has passion for the game. He understand the game, he’s got power, speed, initial quickness, and turns speed to power in the pass rush.”

Anderson is still one of the most dominant defensive forces in the sport. He has produced 20 tackles, 4.5 sacks, and a pick-six through Alabama’s 4-0 start. Anderson is doing all of that while also having all of the attention of the offensive line. Saban credits Anderson for playing through it and his DC for scheming ways for Anderson to work around that.

“A lot of people try to chip him. We’re trying to move him around so it’s harder for them to do that,” Saban said. “Pete (Golding) has done a good job at designing a lot of things that have been helpful to our guys being able to get pressure up front so we’re not just straight rushing where they can chip us all the time.”

Anderson finished as a Heisman finalist last season without even being invited to the ceremony. That’s the kind of prospect we’re talking about in Anderson who remains at the top of most NFL boards. While he may not be getting as much media attention, he’s getting a ton of attention in every opposing team’s game plan. If he continues to play that well through all his opponent’s concentration on him, it won’t matter who’s talking about him in the media.