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| Tony Anderson (#17) |
Name: Tony Anderson
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 192 lbs.
High school: Union High School in Redondo Beach, CA
Position: Cornerback
Class: Redshirt senior
Jersey number: #17
Last year: I didn't rank Anderson. He made 4 tackles on special teams.
Anderson is one of those walk-on kids Rich Rodriguez brought in who actually made an impact in recent years. The walk-on program has been somewhat successful in the past few seasons, producing the likes of safety Jordan Kovacs, linebacker Kevin Leach, fullback John McColgan, defensive end Will Heininger, and special teams savants Zac Johnson and the aforementioned Anderson. Last season #17 played in 11 games, mostly on kick coverage. That seemed to be a pretty good accomplishment, but then . . .
. . . this past spring nobody wanted to claim the starting cornerback job. Troy Woolfolk and J.T. Floyd were both still hurt from last season, Terrence Talbott was having commitment issues, Cullen Christian was avoiding tackling, and Greg Brown was an early enrollee freshman. That left returning part-time starter Courtney Avery and Anderson to be the #1 cornerback tandem. And from what I saw, Anderson didn't do too badly. He wasn't a standout, but he played decently and successfully defended Darryl Stonum on a lofted pass to the endzone in the spring game. I doubt his spot on the depth chart will carry over into the 2011 regular season, but he's given a valiant effort and shown that he can help out in a pinch. The healthy return of Woolfolk and Floyd - plus some talented incoming freshmen - will probably relegate Anderson to the bench.
Prediction: Special teams contributor; backup cornerback
Saying the walk-on program has been successful the past few seasons is the same thing as saying our program, overall, has been horrible the past few seasons. Kovacs, Leach, Heininger, Anderson don't play on functional Michigan teams. Their position groups were absolutely wrought with failure.
ReplyDelete@ Anonymous 5:41 p.m.
ReplyDeleteWell, I won't argue with you much...
...but I do think a guy like Kovacs OR Leach OR Heininger OR Anderson could be a starter or rotation player on a good defense. Probably not on an elite defense like 2006's, but a good defense. The problem was that Kovacs, Leach, and Heininger were all getting a lot of minutes at the same time.
@ Anonymous 5:41 p.m.
ReplyDeleteThis is the "OMG NOT A 5 STAR RECRUIT - UNACCEPTABLE" mentality.
It's college football. COLLEGE football. Let some students try out for the team,
m'kay?
Like Thunder/Magnus said these guys can be contributors. Deal with it.
tony anderson is a AMAZING player i dont know what youre talking about he wasnt beach so you were wrong. you should really get youre facts straight because this boy could make it to pro's if he wanted to but he is way to smart for that and is actually going to use hes BRAIN instead of picking football as a career.
ReplyDelete