DanielHouse
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The Gophers have received a commitment from St. Louis, MO. defensive end M.J. Anderson. He chose Minnesota over offers from Iowa State, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Purdue and others. Anderson originally decommitted last week, but decided to flip back to the Gophers following an official visit last weekend.
A defensive end with a 6-foot-4, 270-pound frame, Anderson is an athlete the coaches can refine and develop at the next level. He has experience as a stand-up rush end, but can also put his hand in the dirt as a five-technique. Anderson has the bend, rush angles and athleticism to mold. When he develops his pass rushing moves and refines his hand technique, there Is immense potential. He posted 11 sacks during his senior season and clearly added more physical strength before the year began.
Against the run, Anderson has shown he can fight through blocks and wins with his quick first step. Many of his clips show him getting in the backfield with physicality/quickness to notch a tackle-for-loss. One of the other areas worth watching is how well he maintains edge contain on backside runs. This causes plays either to redirect or get stopped in his direction. The stats echo this observation as Anderson posted 62 tackles this season – 21 were for loss.
There are many unique traits associated with Anderson’s skill-set and the Gophers’ coaches will have a chance to develop those pass rushing skills. This is the latest addition to a defensive line unit the staff is trying to build. They've done this by adding two defensive ends (D'Vion Harris and Anderson) and three defensive tackles (DeAngelo Griffin, Logan Richter and Rashad Cheney Jr.).
<iframe src='//www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/5583574/5b8e7abcb018bb08482cc6a3' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreen></iframe>
A defensive end with a 6-foot-4, 270-pound frame, Anderson is an athlete the coaches can refine and develop at the next level. He has experience as a stand-up rush end, but can also put his hand in the dirt as a five-technique. Anderson has the bend, rush angles and athleticism to mold. When he develops his pass rushing moves and refines his hand technique, there Is immense potential. He posted 11 sacks during his senior season and clearly added more physical strength before the year began.
Against the run, Anderson has shown he can fight through blocks and wins with his quick first step. Many of his clips show him getting in the backfield with physicality/quickness to notch a tackle-for-loss. One of the other areas worth watching is how well he maintains edge contain on backside runs. This causes plays either to redirect or get stopped in his direction. The stats echo this observation as Anderson posted 62 tackles this season – 21 were for loss.
There are many unique traits associated with Anderson’s skill-set and the Gophers’ coaches will have a chance to develop those pass rushing skills. This is the latest addition to a defensive line unit the staff is trying to build. They've done this by adding two defensive ends (D'Vion Harris and Anderson) and three defensive tackles (DeAngelo Griffin, Logan Richter and Rashad Cheney Jr.).
<iframe src='//www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/5583574/5b8e7abcb018bb08482cc6a3' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreen></iframe>
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