Breaking down the potential of Henry Anderson on the Jets

The New York Jets made a trade in the 2018 NFL Draft to acquire defensive end Henry Anderson in the 7th Round. Here’s a look at his potential heading into the upcoming season.

As always, general manager Mike Maccagnan loves to make trades when it comes to the NFL Draft. This year, he traded away a seventh-round pick to acquire defensive end Henry Anderson, as reported by Lenn Robbins of ESPN. The New York Jets are hoping that taking a risk on Anderson pays off considering his unfortunate injuries of the past.

In the past few years, Anderson has dealt with not one but two ACL injuries including a terrible injury in 2017. Anderson had a severe throat injury that required surgery which caused him to miss the rest of the season.

If healthy, Anderson has potential to be a decent defensive end for the Jets in a rotational role. The kind of situational role that can use his huge size on key defensive situations like 3rd and short plays by opposing offenses. At 6-6 and 301lbs., Anderson can be a force to reckon with since he also has good speed and excels against the run with his huge size.

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So far in his career, Anderson has totaled 43 tackles, 3.0 sacks, and one forced fumble. Ideally, Anderson likely won’t be starting at the beginning of the upcoming season but can easily earn his way up the depth chart.

Since the Jets defensive line is an area of opportunity for the team, this was a good move on Maccagnan’s part since it’s a low-risk/high reward situation. Anderson has potential to be a specialist in stopping the run and hopefully, stays healthy enough to make an impact for the Jets on defense.

It could also be possible to see Anderson get some opportunities on special teams since that was also an area of need for the Jets heading into this offseason. Either way, Anderson will likely end up being a good pickup for the Jets considering everything he could bring to the table if healthy.