Mark Anderson

[schweinhart]

Per NFL.com

Red-hot rookie Anderson making his mark

By Larry Mayer

LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Mark Anderson was forced to wait until the second day of the draft to hear his name called, but the Bears defensive end has wasted little time making an impact as a rookie.

The fifth-round draft pick from Alabama recorded two sacks for the second straight game in Sunday’s 40-7 drubbing of the Buffalo Bills, surpassing Pro Bowl defensive tackle Tommie Harris for the team lead with 5½, tops among NFL rookies.

Rookie Mark Anderson forces a J.P. Losman fumble on a fourth-quarter sack in Sunday's 40-7 win over the Bills.

“He has a lot of God-given ability; great speed and quickness,” said coach Lovie Smith. “He has over a 40-inch vertical. You don’t find many defensive ends with those type numbers. As much as anything we harp on having speed on the perimeter and that’s exactly what we have with him. We thought he was a steal when we got him in the fifth round and it’s looking that way.”

Anderson helped make up for the absence of veteran defensive end Adewale Ogunleye, who missed Sunday’s game with a hamstring injury. The 159th overall pick in the draft sacked J.P. Losman for an eight-yard loss midway through the second quarter, then forced a fumble that the Bills recovered when he dropped the Buffalo quarterback again in the fourth period.

When Anderson was asked whether he has exceeded his own expectations to this point in the season, he said: “I’m on my way. Right now I’m just trying to work hard, do what the coaches want me to do and just keep on playing.”

Anderson already has the second-highest sack total by a Bears rookie behind only middle linebacker Brian Urlacher, who led the team with eight in 2000. The 6-4, 255-pounder registered just 13½ sacks in 50 career games in four seasons at Alabama, including 7½ as a senior.

Must be nice, eh? On the bright side, at least the Bengals got Frostee Rucker in the 3rd.

[CantStop85]

Must be nice, eh? On the bright side, at least the Bengals got Frostee Rucker in the 3rd.

Thank goodness.

[BlainThePain]

He probably wouldn't have a single sack if he played on our defense.

[Kazkal]

He probably wouldn't have a single sack if he played on our defense.

I doubt that sense justin and Geathers are both up too 4 each ,He may not have 5 I'm sure whole bears defense is helping him get the sacks but hes still better then rucker who was IR'd and rumored be cut next year.

[HairOnFire]

Must be nice, eh? On the bright side, at least the Bengals got Frostee Rucker in the 3rd.

Try to look on the bright side. The Bengals may actually listen to you before the next draft, and might spend the 1st round draft pick on a player you've pimped hard, USC DE Lawrence Jackson.

Then again, Jackson has zero sacks this season, and is averaging a tick more than one tackle per game.

j/k

[schweinhart]

Hair, Good Gawd man, surely those Trojan-colored glasses haven't sprouted a crack! I mean any USC fan would have to love watching the Bengals with the NFL MVP orchestrating the offense and defensive bookends both from there.

But the Lawrence Jackson situation is somewhat concerning. His biggest hit is probably the rap that he won't be able to swing 3-4 DE. Keep him at 270 and let him rush wide off the edge in a 4-3 and Jackson should still get enough of an early entry evaluation that he'll come out and go high. But his stock is in his hands and he knows it. Why, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Jackson take the bull by the horns and notch 3 sacks this Saturday vs. Arizona State. (And I wouldn't be surprised if Zach Miller schools Keith Rivers and Co.)

As for Mark Anderson, he'd have had to beat out Jumpy Jr. for rush LDE. But with Pollack going down, he'd probably be the starting SSLB right now. It's just good to know that an undersized DE with a tweener rap can actually produce as a pass rushing specialist at a level worthy of 1st day consideration. Lovie inherited a lot of players when he took over but he's managed to improve his defense considerably with draft picks and that also would be nice to see happen more in Cincinnati.

[HairOnFire]

I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Jackson take the bull by the horns and notch 3 sacks this Saturday vs. Arizona State.

Jackson is a good player so I won't rule it out, but DE's don't produce sacks unless the gameplan schemes for them, and the Trojans aren't doing that. Just this week their coaches responded to questions about Jackson's lack of production. They hammered home two critical points.

First, due to the reduced talent on both sides of the ball the Trojans rarely take large leads in any game regardless of the level of competition. Thus, fewer risks are taken as the Trojans are less able to overcome big plays surrendered.

Second, Jackson is doing exactly what the coaches are asking him to do, and according to their grading system he's doing it well. In no game this season has he graded out lower than a 92 and he's got a couple of 98's under his belt. But according to his coaches Jackson is now being asked to play the same containment first role that Frostee Rucker filled last season. Tougher still, Jackson doesn't have a bookend DE to play with that is nearly as talented as Rucker was so neither DE is allowed the freedom to rush the passer with his ears laid back.

Frankly, you can point to what Anderson is doing with the Bears and bemoan the fact that your draft guide didn't consider Rucker to be as good as him, or worth his 3rd round draft status, but it should be pointed out the Anderson now plays on one of the finest defenses in the NFL, one that is far better suited to live with Anderson's crappy run defense. In addition, we also see that a college player who you feel is worthy of a 1st round pick is incapable of performing the same role in USC's defense as well as Rucker managed. In fact, unless things change dramatically, and soon, Jackson won't even approach the 6 sacks that are so often used as proof that Frostee Rucker is a crappy DE.

I'm just saying...

[schweinhart]

Frankly, you can point to what Anderson is doing with the Bears and bemoan the fact that your draft guide didn't consider Rucker to be as good as him, or worth his 3rd round draft status, but it should be pointed out the Anderson now plays on one of the finest defenses in the NFL, one that is far better suited to live with Anderson's crappy run defense. In addition, we also see that a college player who you feel is worthy of a 1st round pick is incapable of performing the same role in USC's defense as well as Rucker managed. In fact, unless things change dramatically, and soon, Jackson won't even approach the 6 sacks that are so often used as proof that Frostee Rucker is a crappy DE.

I'm just saying...

Well, I understand you're just saying and do also understand that you've seen more Rucker probably than anyone else here......But what I'm saying is that I actually watch as many of these other, non-USC players as I can and will point to that when I write something down, not some draft guide, none of which I have and wouldn't use to form opinions in any event.

Sure, Anderson plays on a great defense, but his performance on the field including the Senior Bowl, the tale of the tape from the combine does in fact point rather glaringly that any other team looking for an impact edge rusher may have fumbled when they took somebody else between Wimbley and him....at least blew it based on early returns.

No one would confuse Frostee w/ Rucker as a DE. Clearly the Bengals sought Rucker for exactly the potential you have proclaimed he champions....namely contain from the LDE as a run defending DE. Now, in Frostee's ill-fated rookie campaign clearly he has not had the opportunity to show he can be that DE type. I only saw him as a Bengal in the Redskins pre-season game and would have to say that the diving attempted tackle he made on a cutback stretch highlighted how ill-suited he was to play that LDE position because his contain was about 5 yards too wide, namely because he isn't strong or quick enough to keep from getting shoved backwards in the NFL. Of course, that could change and I do expect the Bengals to give Frostee that chance if he's added to his frame.

But my real point is that types like Frostee are a dime a dozen. He wasn't worth a 3rd IMO or even a pick period. Sure, it is what it is but just because somebody gets drafted in the 3rd don't mean they should've any more than somebody getting drafted in th 5th or not at all, like Anderson-----and wait for it-----Eric Henderson should not have been drafted earlier or not drafted at all. Teams blow their evaluations sometimes.

[HairOnFire]

But my real point is that types like Frostee are a dime a dozen. He wasn't worth a 3rd IMO or even a pick period. Sure, it is what it is but just because somebody gets drafted in the 3rd don't mean they should've any more than somebody getting drafted in th 5th or not at all, like Anderson-----and wait for it-----Eric Henderson should not have been drafted earlier or not drafted at all. Teams blow their evaluations sometimes.

The 3rd round is filled with dime-a-dozen players. In fact, more than half of the players selected in that round won't still be with the team that selected them by the time their original contract was due to end, and that's probably even more true for players who were selcted near the very end of the 3rd.

That's Rucker, right?

Before arguing that every player selected after a prospect was more worthy of the pick than the one the team actually pulled the trigger on...shouldn't we debate until our eyes bleed which player was the better fit? And when we're done with that exercise shouldn't the next question asked have something to do with why 31 other teams didn't select a Mark Anderson or an Eric Henderson any sooner than they did? Henderson wasn't drafted at all, right? And Anderson was said to have been passed over due to his being a weak run defender AND the very poor impression he gave during combine interviews. Considering what we've learned about Frostee's past the idea that teams would pass on Anderson points to a remarkably bad first impression, ehhh?

If your point is that 31 teams blew their evaluations of Anderson then I'll not complain too loudly. Beyond that I'm not sure the comparison to Frostee Rucker is fair or worthwhile....though I don't expect it to be the last time that anyone makes it.

[schweinhart]

If your point is that 31 teams blew their evaluations of Anderson then I'll not complain too loudly. Beyond that I'm not sure the comparison to Frostee Rucker is fair or worthwhile....though I don't expect it to be the last time that anyone makes it.

I suppose it is the point about Anderson...that teams perhaps blew it on their evaluations of him.

And I agree that comparing Anderson and Rucker is apples and oranges. Clearly the Bengals wouldn't target a tweener SSLB/DE type like Anderson when Jumpy had lost weight and regained his 2004 pass rushing specialist form and David Pollack was their starting SSLB as well as their primary LDE pass rusher in obvious passing situations.

But the Frostee talk will undoubtedly continue as the upcoming draft gets closer...Not necessary for potential flaws in the pick but as to whether there's need to draft again at the run-defending DE position or whether Frostee can replace Justin if Justin is not re-signed.

The better comparison with Frostee out of last year's draft class would be the big frame-type, 4-3 DEs that followed him:

Victor Adeyanju Rams, 4th round, who is now the starting RDE for the Rams.

Ray Edwards Vikings, 4th rounder, who for now is limited to a pass rusher and has 2 sacks.

Julian Jenkins Bucs, 5th rounder, backup RDE.

[Kazkal]

Caused sack for one of the TDs vs the cardinals.

[schweinhart]

Yeah but nobody blocked him either Still, did gets off off the edge and has the frame if he's not skin tight to add 15 or so lbs and develop into an everydown DE on day. Just don't get why he slid as far as he did in the draft.