South Carolina TE Rory Anderson NFL Draft Scouting Report

The 2015 NFL Draft class of tight end prospects is underwhelming to many, but is full of guys with boom or bust potential. Not the least of which is South Carolina’s Rory Anderson, a guy that has gone largely overlooked to this point due to a triceps injury that kept him out of the NFL Scouting Combine.

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Injuries have been the biggest obstacle for Anderson in his collegiate career thus far, as has been adding weight to play the tight end position most effectively.

A dual-sport athlete who didn’t play basketball for South Carolina, but felt like he could have, Anderson is a mismatch in the passing game and a really fun kid to watch because he makes big plays down the field and can create a mismatch on linebackers and safeties with his height and length.

There’s not a ton of film out there on Anderson at this point, but he has proven throughout his collegiate career to be a big play threat when healthy. He has great length and impressive athletic ability. He’s certainly a mismatch for smaller defensive backs and if he gets a free release off the line of scrimmage, he’s going to burn you down the seam or with a deep post.

Anderson sometimes allows the ball to come into his body, but he’s also proven he can make impressive catches away from his body and has an excellent catch radius with his 6-5 frame.

Adding weight is something he says that he’s working on, trying to bulk up for teams and prove that he’s not a basketball prototype who only catches passes.

He says he likes sticking his nose in and blocking when called upon, and that his listed weight of 230 pounds is up to 244 pounds. Teams apparently want to see him in the 240 range.

Overall, I need to see more of Anderson but from what I have seen, I can say this — first and foremost, this is a guy who makes big plays. In his first two seasons at South Carolina, he averaged over 20 yards per catch and had eight touchdown grabs. That’s ridiculous for a young tight end in the SEC.

The things that we have to be worried about at this point are medical, and whether or not he can keep weight up to be an in-line blocking tight end. He has acknowledged that he might fall in the draft due to his medical, but believes in his blocking ability.

I’ll be really intrigued to see where he lands, because this is an athletic player with big play potential who saw significant action this past season before getting hurt and going through season-ending surgery. He will be a high upside day three pickup for some team.

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