We’ve reached the end of the Buffalo Bills selections from the 2021 NFL Draft. Buffalo’s final selection, Jack Anderson adds another depth piece to the offensive line. Visually similar in appearance to former Bills’ guard Richie Incognito, the bigger question will be can he play like Richie. Let’s hit the film to get some impressions of Anderson.
Play 1
First a positive. I like that Jack Anderson remains upright and keeps fighting on this play. It’s never fun to have a large human land on the back of your leg. Overall, I liked his on-field demeanor.
Play 2
On the other hand, inconsistencies in ability I love a lot less. Since you probably know it’s coming, here’s his spider chart from mockdraftable.com. The only glaring stats are arm length and wingspan (which are quite obviously connected). What I’m getting at here is that Anderson shouldn’t be losing battles simply due to being outmuscled on a routine basis. Inconsistent technique led to a good many lost battles however. We don’t see it here, but I did note a tendency to engage with straight arms (see above), which can lead to issues.
Play 3
Anderson also didn’t come across as very refined when it came to countering moves like these. The left-hand pull, and compact swim here gets right by him.
Play 4
I could have made a lot more GIFs of flaws, but let’s be fair. Jack Anderson lasted until the seventh round of the draft for a reason. Here’s another positive for Anderson. In most cases where he needed to perform quicker bumps to multiple opponents he did well.
Play 5
And here’s a glimpse of what it looks like when he’s on his game. Some of this is due to the angle of attack, but there are plenty of reps that went well for Anderson.
Summary
I’d really like to avoid damning Jack Anderson with faint praise so I’ll stick with what I said above. There’s a reason he lasted until the seventh round. Rather than rehash all that, I prefer to offer my best wishes. Uphill battle or not, Anderson is a Bill and we’re rooting for his success.