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| Tony Anderson #17 |
There’s a good chance I’ll be speaking with former defensive back Tony Anderson in the next few days. Leave a topic/question for him in the comments section if there’s something you’d like for me to address.
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| Tony Anderson |
2011 Countdown: #61 Tony Anderson
HIGH SCHOOL
Anderson was an all-league wide receiver and an all-area defensive back at Redondo Beach (CA) Redondo Union. He walked on to the football program at Michigan.
COLLEGE
Anderson had a pretty good career for a walk-on, playing in 23 career games from 2008 to 2011 and making 6 career tackles. For the most part, he contributed only on special teams. However, against Delaware State in 2009 and in the late part of the 2010 season, after several Michigan cornerbacks had left the team or suffered injuries, he played a little as a backup cornerback. He finished out his career in 2011 playing in just one game, that being San Diego State.
CAREER STATS
6 total tackles
AWARDS
None.
SUMMARY
Anderson is the type of walk-on who can make a solid contribution to a football team through special teams coverage, playing on the practice squad, and occasionally helping out in a game situation. With a couple cornerbacks nursing lingering injuries back in the spring of 2011, he was getting a lot of run with the first team defense. And while that didn’t translate into playing time during the regular season, he practiced capably and helped out the team by challenging the starting receivers. To top it off, he seemed like a quality kid in a couple pre-season interviews and majored in Arab, Armenian, Persian, Turkish, and Islamic studies and, if I remember correctly, originally came to Ann Arbor on an academic scholarship. You probably couldn’t ask for a better representative of the walk-on program.
PROJECTION
Anderson was not invited to the NFL Combine but he did work out at Michigan’s pro day in hopes of catching on as an undrafted free agent. So far he has not been signed, and his football career is likely finished.
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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