ROME, Ga. — Adam Anderson is going to be with the Georgia Bulldogs after all..
The program that calls its predatory outside linebackers “The Wolfpack” lures a Wolf from Rome High to join that clan.
That just fits.
The nation’s No. 2 OLB announced his third and very likely final college commitment Thursday night to Georgia over Alabama.
“This is where my heart tells me to go,” Anderson said on Thursday night from his home in Rome.
He tweeted out the news via a video produced by CBS Sports. The timing here even makes a lot of sense.
It was Oct. 19. That’s the number he wears for Rome High. It was also his birthday.
It should be seen as a gift to the future sack totals and the “Wolfpack” pass rush at UGA. The 6-foot-4 prospect rates as the nation’s No. 42 overall prospect on the 247Sports Composite for 2018.
That rating is based largely on his college potential but Anderson is one of those rare few who can turn Saturday potential into big-time production on Friday nights. Georgia High School Football Daily ranks him as a candidate for the state’s top player honor this year.
He will make plays. Yet he already does. GHSF Daily reports that Anderson has 40 tackles, 17 for losses, 9 sacks, 2 forced fumbles and 2 pass breakups through seven games. He’s been a predator at defensive end for the defending Class 5A state champion Wolves.
Rome (7-0) is still the No. 1 team in Class 5A this year.
Anderson now becomes the highest-rated 4-star commitment for the Bulldogs in the Class of 2018. He settles in as the program’s third-highest rated pledge overall behind 5-stars Justin Fields and Zamir White.
Georgia’s depth chart will lose at least two seniors in Davin Bellamy and Lorenzo Carter to the NFL next season. That creates an opportunity for immediate playing time for Anderson.
He’s raw, but he also has the chance to be very special. The U.S. Army All-American can do some special things on the field.
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There’s an example from his junior year that conveys what he can already do.
The “freak” descriptions come out when the film shows he can defend both the dive call and the outside edge on a power option call from his defensive end spot.
Anderson can squeeze down and push back to still cover his gap to take the dive and the quarterback option away. That drives both the offensive coordinator and the offensive line coach at Rome crazy.
As it should.
“We tell our quarterback not to get used to the defensive end being there to make that play,” Rome offensive coordinator Chris Boden said. “No other defensive end anywhere else will make that play in high school. Just Adam. Only Adam has the size and speed and length to make that.”
Rome head coach John Reid tells him, “Good job,” as he shakes his head. Then he tells all the other defensive ends at Rome to never try what Anderson just did.
He committed to Georgia, then de-committed. He repeated those steps with a different SEC dance partner in LSU. What did he learn from those trials?
“I’ve learned to take my time and not rush things anymore,” Anderson said back in August. “… Just because the fit feels good doesn’t mean to commit as soon as you feel that way. I am going to look more future-wise and what school will help me after college. It is as simple as that.”
The big-timer from the Rome Wolves will join Georgia’s “Wolfpack.”
It is also as simple as that.