Darius

Anderson

Anderson is one of several running backs that the Cowboys are bringing in, including his former TCU teammate Sewo Olonilua. The 5-foot-11, 195-pound tailback 823 yards while averaging 5.5 yards per attempt and six touchdowns, and he also caught 22 passes. He’ll compete for the final tailback spot with the Cowboys behind Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard this summer.

For someone named “Jet,” Anderson’s time is more commercial airline. He was much better in the three-cone drill, registering the third best time at 4.19 seconds among tailbacks. Anderson was solid at the Senior Bowl, and the 5-foot-10, 208-pound tailback has a chance to be a draft pick come April. If not, he’ll be highly targeted as a priority free agent.

Anderson (5'11/195) has the size and athleticism that teams look for in a running back, and he started the 2019 season on the right note, but there are concerns. In addition to his issues picking up blitzes, the former Horned Frog also “isn’t as instinctive at setting up blocks and anticipating run lanes as he needs to be” according to Zierlein. Anderson, who shared the running back duties with Sewo Olonilua, projects to be an UDFA whose ability as a kick returner could enhance his chances of making an NFL roster.

Anderson (5'11/212) was fine on the ground -- he averaged 6.1 YPC with a long dash of 16 yards -- but his game highlight came as a receiver. On the play in question, the TCU back swung out wide down the left sideline after a Shea Patterson play-action fake early in the second quarter. Nobody picked him up in coverage and Patterson subsequently found him all alone for an easy jog-in score. While this was a nice overall showing for Anderson, he’s probably only finding his way into the draft proper the evaluating process hits perfectly for him. Undrafted free agency will be his likeliest path to scraping it out onto a pro roster when all is said and done.

Anderson (5'11"/212) exploded out of the gate in 2019, rushing 64 times for 504 yards and six touchdowns in his first four full games of the year. He would manage only 291 more yards and zero touchdowns in the remaining seven games as he took a backseat to Sewo Olonilua in the TCU backfield rotation. Anderson lacks the build to be a feature running back at the next level and doesn’t project well as a goal-line option, but he could carve out a role as a change of pace running back in the NFL.

Anderson’s been the most stable of TCU’s deep RB group over the past few years. While he isn’t a particularly speedy or flashy runner, Anderson rocks a thick 5-foot-11, 212-pound build and runs with tremendous balance. His work between the tackles is suited for the NFL and he should be able to carve out a role for himself in the league as a depth RB for years to come. Anderson has carried the ball 136 times for 785 yards and six touchdowns this year.

Everyone who ran the ball for TCU on Saturday had their way, but Anderson (5'11/212) was particularly dominant as he handled a team-high 18 carries. Anderson was the engine for a TCU offense that ripped off five scores in their first five drives. This is Anderson’s third consecutive game with at least 115 yards and a touchdown, putting him close to 500 rushing yards for the season.

Anderson (5'11/212) has run wild the past two weeks tallying 35 carries, 340 yards and 4 touchdowns to go with 4 receptions for 45 yards. Anderson is averaging a gaudy 9.7 YPC in that time frame as the senior running back is making the most of his final college season. TCU welcomes perennial Pac-12 slump-buster Kansas to Fort Worth this weekend as they try to bounce back from last week’s tough loss to SMU.

Anderson (5'11/212) coming in with a monster effort in this one. He scored on a 14-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, then came back around for a three-yard scoring run in the second quarter. That latter touchdown came on the heels of a beautiful 77-yard run in which the senior showed off impeccable balance fighting through tackles at the line of scrimmage before turning it up down the left sideline to come within yards of the end zone. Anderson has been hot hot hot over his last two games, rushing for a combined 340 yards in that space. He’ll look to do further damage against Kansas in Week 5.

The Horned Frogs don’t win the game with Anderson. While TCU’s defense did hold on strong for most of the game, Anderson’s 179 yards on the ground was the bulk of TCU’s offense. His 11.2 yards per carry was nearly quadruple the yards per pass attempt TCU’s QBs had (3.1 yards per attempt).