21 for 21: Predicting Will Anderson's sack total this season

Alabama will look to repeat as national champions this year as it aims to add a 19th title to its trophy case. The Crimson Tide opens its season on Sept. 4 against Miami inside Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium. To help pass the time until then, BamaInsider is delving into 21 topics and questions concerning the 2021 season.

Today, we continue our series by asking how many sacks Will Anderson Jr. will pile up this season.

Derrick Thomas holds perhaps the most untouchable mark in Alabama history. The late Crimson Tide linebacker tallied an NCAA record 27 sacks during the 1988 season, a stat that seems out of reach to even the most feared pass rushers of today’s game.

Alabama has one of those on this year’s defense in Will Anderson Jr., who’s drawn comparisons to Thomas in his early college career. Anderson earned the Shaun Alexander-FWAA National Freshman Player of the Year Award last season, leading the nation’s freshmen with seven sacks while also tallying 52 tackles including 10.5 stops for a loss.

Despite his success, Anderson didn’t record his first sack until the eighth game of the season. From there, the five-star outside linebacker brought down seven quarterbacks in the span of four weeks.

For perspective, if Anderson was able to replicate the production of that stint over a full regular season, he would have 21 sacks by the time the Tide enters postseason play this year. Maintaining that average over a 15-game slate would have him knocking at the door of Thomas’ record.

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