NFL Draft Profile: Rory "Busta" Anderson

USC Career in Review:

After having a very productive high school career, Anderson was a pretty well regarded 3 star prospect. After signing with South Carolina, most of his freshman season was pretty quiet. He had his first long catch in the 54-3 romp over Kentucky in 2011. However, he continued to play second fiddle for most of the season to a pretty good player in his own right, Justice Cunningham. Yet, against at home against Clemson, Buster had a huge catch and run that helped blow the game wide open. That was my first in person experience at a Carolina vs. Clemson game, and it was freakin awesome. Special shoutout to my parents for getting season tickets that year. But anyways, Busta had finally started to show that athletic ability that everyone raved about when he stepped on campus. Throughout his career he would continue to prove one of Carolina's deadliest threats off play-action and would even prove to be effective on the dreaded tightend screen. Rory would finish his career here on a down note, as he suffered multiple injuries to his triceps during an excellent senior campaign.

NFL Combine Measurables:

*special note: due to his tricep injuries, Anderson was not able to compete in the NFL Combine. However, he still accepted his invitation and went through the measuring process along with meeting with NFL scouts.*

Strengths:

Rory Anderson is in the exact mold of a growing trend in NFL tightends. Tall, long, fast, great jumping ability, and can run like a deer. We saw this early on in the year against UGA. On a great playcall by Spurrier, Dylan Thompson found Anderson on a seam route down the middle of the field, matched up with UGA's Mike linebacker. This very play is the reason tightends with Anderson's skill set are so highly valued. With the rise of the spread offense and its rising influence in the NFL, look for Anderson to garner attention as he presents potential nightmares for defensive coordinators. However, Anderson also does a great job in the other aspect of a tightend's job. Blocking. He plays with sound technique, and despite his relatively light frame, is good at getting up to the 2nd and 3rd levels to block.

Weaknesses:

Despite doing well at high pointing the ball, he still lets the ball get into his body too much. Also, he has struggled to create separation between him and the defender at times. Despite his frame being that of a potentially electrifying tightend target, he does have some weaknesses with regard to his physique. Firstly, he needs to gain weight. Though, this shouldn't be that big of a problem as he came in his freshman year around 220 pounds and finished at 244. But, if he wants to be a complete player in the NFL he will need to gain weight so he can handle more blocking responsibilities. Another issue is his hand size. For a 6'5'' tightend, having only 8 3/4'' hands is pretty small. Anderson had his fair share of drops this year. Hopefully he can work on his fundamentals to negate this problem down the road.

Draft Projection:

I would guess that until Anderson kept getting hurt his senior year, he was well on his way to being a middle round draft pick. However, with consistent injuries to his triceps, NFL scouts are worried about his ability to hold up in a very physical league. I would expect to see Anderson to get drafted in between the early 5th-7th rounds. If not drafted, I would be very surprised if he is not immediately picked up as an UDFA.