Stephone Anthony Evaluation

So I've watched every game Anthony has ever played and all of his high school highlights (he was a 5 star and most of us about lost our mind when he committed on NSD). Anyways, on to what I think of him.

Physically - Far, far superior to anything we've had since probably young Vilma. It's very rare to see someone at a true 6'3, 240 move like he does. He's also not a bubble muscle guy either; all of this size is in his trunk of a lower body. There's not really much more you can ask for athletically in today's NFL for an ILB.

Run Support - If there's one thing he initially struggled with it's run support. Now, before everyone has a heart attack, this is very common for young LBs, especially athletic freaks who have always been able to get away with anything they want. In his freshman and sophomore years, he was constantly jumping gaps and running under blocks. He'd make 2-3 big TFLs only to give up a long run a play later, very undisciplined.

His junior year he really took a step forward and his senior year he was beyond dominant. His gap discipline was incredible. Instead of running under blocks he was stonewalling blockers at the point of attack. He also still had those unteachable instincts for shooting gaps and making big TFLs. It wasn't the undisciplined guessing, though, of his early career. It was the result of careful film study, trusting his reads, and no hesitation.

Pass Coverage - He primarily played in a zone scheme in college his junior and senior years (where he really excelled). His freshman and sophomore years we were primarily in man schemes and he had some struggles. Part of this was simply our incompetent Defensive Coordinator manning him up on guys like Duke Johnson who took off on wheel routes and woulda burned any LB in college. We've mixed in some man in recent seasons, but he really excels in zone. He's got uncanny feel for reading formations, route combinations, and a QB's eyes.

Blitzing - This is IMO his biggest strength. He is a natural blitzer like you just can't teach, both off the edge and in twists in the interior. This is something we've been missing for a long time and should be something he excels at from day one. Timing and angles in blitzing is so hard to teach and he's nailed it. If you want to see an example of this, check the FSU game from this year. It's a borderline clinic on A-gap fire blitzes.

Personal - Super low maintenance, high character leader. There will never be any issue with him here, pure blue collar worker.

Weaknesses - I'd say his biggest weakness was picking up the new scheme when we transferred Defensive Coordinators. It took him quite a few games (almost an entire season) to really pickup the keys and reads. For a while he was struggling to trust his eyes and almost lost his spot. I'd urge patience with him as he picks up the defense. Once he gets it down he'll be a really good one.

Love this pick !