Justin Anderson talks BYU Football Off-season Updates

welcome back to BYU Sports Station we're hanging out live in Studio B he is jerem Jordan I'm Spencer Linton let's welcome in the BYU football director of player Personnel Justin Anderson for a few reasons because another Signing Day is right around the corner uh Wednesday February 7th also want to talk about some guys that are trying to pursue their Pro dreams at different All-Star games Justin welcome back to the show great to be back you were just hanging out with Kingsley Su Mata as uh he get

s ready for the Reese's Senior Bowl what was that experience like to be there with Kings and how's he feeling about the approaching draft and and what he has to do in terms of work before the draft Yeah so I got there really the first day of practices and I thought he represented himself well he played I mean from the individual work to the one-on ones to the teamwork I thought he did a great job so I think he's put himself in good position you know you're seeing a lot of really good players tha

t's the nice thing is you're competing against really good players like these are guys that you expect to be drafted and play on Sunday so I think you get to see where you're at and I think he did really well what's it like to kind of walk around and I'm sure you're feeling questions from GMS and player Personnel guys from NFL teams yeah I think it's um you know a lot of questions they they want to know background type stuff you know character work ethic that kind of deal and the nice thing abou

t BYU is those are usually pretty easy questions for us we have we really do have a great group of kids and the guys that are trying to make it to the draft it's been easy easy conversation guys how much much do you have to sell like obviously BYU wants to have high level draft picks the more first round draft picks the better so how much of an opportunity do you have to be like oh yeah like we're we're putting all these guys in the NFL you're pointing out the the big time draft picks how much o

f an opportunity you had to do that with guys as you try and help better the status of your players that are competing in these games yeah I think it's I think when you get a reputation of of having guys that have success so BYU I think not only they put guys in the NFL but I think the guys that do go have had good good success which I think is a really big selling point as you're talking to young men hey we can help develop you to get there but the reality is most of these kids have the innate

traits right you're looking for part of the reason I like to go to these com the combines in the NFL uh bowl games is you get to see like body types what do they look like what do they move like and so um you know Kingsley he you can tell he fits in he doesn't look like a fish out of water so um yeah I think it's good I think it's an easy selling point for us when we can say hey you know look at this guy look at that guy this guy was drafted in this round we're able to put guys not only in the d

raft but then they're going to play at a high level specifically at left tackle this is going to be Buy's third straight starting left tackle who's going to get drafted which is Big Time um and and so what what does that mean to the program obviously quarterback's the most high-profile position left tackle might be the second best position to be putting in the league I me think it's obviously a very important possession I mean position guys are drafted at a high level and and that's a very valua

ble position in the NFL I mean I think that's one of those positions nowadays that you see you could see four or five tackles get drafted in the first round sometimes more because people are looking for guys that can play that edge to protect against these defensive ends man when you you at these bll games you see some of these defensive ends I mean they are they are Twitchy Justin Anderson is with us on BYU Sports Station all right let's talk about the Shrine Bowl because Isaac Rex Kaden slovis

Ryan Rico all there competing doing their thing trying to increase and improve their own draft profiles uh so let's just let's just start with Isaac like where where is Isaac uh when it comes to an NFL potential and how have you seen him develop from the season end to where he is now yeah I think being healthy for him is been been key you know I think he had a whole healthy off season from the ankle surgery I think he had a great season great thing about Isaac is he's been productive so you say

all you want he's productive and I think that that matters in the NFL production matter matters and he does have the measurables so I think he's done a good job of putting himself in a good position to to have an opportunity to play the next he a one-handed catch for a touchdown doesn't hurt either and in the games he's playing well and then he made it to the bo UCF basketball game right after that which was also fun like they were playing on campus he made it to the game which was super cool a

nd he's been in multiple games which is good good exposure talk to me about Keen slovis because obviously the numbers weren't what he wanted at pit and then at BYU yet he's got some of the the goods that NFL general managers want and whatnot hopefully he can get an undrafted free agent opportunity what what's the conversation around him right now yeah I think you know the nice thing about Keaton is is he's played in different systems so you know he can learn a system really quickly which in the

NFL is a big deal um and he has a really good arm and in the NFL those things matter a lot a lot more than people I think realize is this ability to throw the ball at a high level and arm strength and he has those those tools so I think he's done a good job and he's a really good kid he's got good character he showed some leadership for us and those those things at that position are really important to be able to show leadership now that we're done with the season we're looking back on ke sl' BY

U days how how much light can you shed on just what he was dealing with injury-wise and and other challenges wise while he was at BYU for this one year yeah and I you know the thing about Keon is I thought he handled everything like such a pro and I think that says a lot about his character and why he was voted a captain by by the team is it's frustrating to be injured um but his desire to kind of be back and help the team that never lacked it was never like I'm done it was like what can I do to

get back and so he worked to get back the best that he could and it just unfortunately didn't work out to where he was but he's healthy now and he's throwing he's in these you know the Bull game and having a chance to show himself and then we'll have the pro day coming up the Big 12 pro day where these guys are going to have a chance to do that again so every little opportunity present yourself to these guys is important and I think our guys are doing a great job the ones that have had a chance

so far are representing themselves very well it's hard to make it as a specialist but Ryan Rico's got a real shot here he really does I mean he's got a big leg he's a big kid and um you know that punter and kicker is always hard because those guys last forever in the league so it some of it is timing do you are you coming out at the right time and I I feel like he's if there's a team that needs a punter if they take him they won't regret it because he has an NFL league we need a BYU guy in the

league specifically at punter just so Pat McAfee has like a direct source to not only BYU but like a punter from BYU yes right that's right he needs more bu content if you know what I mean he needs different content yes he does ra friend Ryan Smith said as much it's time for new content maybe that's Ryan Rico as a punter with BYU signing days next Wednesday and we see the writing on the wall December is the big day now it just it's be like that's become the real signing day but technically the f

irst Wednesday in February is also Signing Day so what can you tell us about what to expect effect uh a week from now will will there be any surprises or or some you know some things that are off the radar that we'll find out next week I mean I think we'll have we'll we'll sign a few few more guys likely it won't be very big um but I think they're really key pieces and and very good players so I think it'll be exciting to add to our group because I feel like our coaches did a really good job of

targeting the right guys that we're looking for to build the roster and um yeah I'm excited about the group of guys that have signed and the the few guys that will sign now and you know you'll always be because of the changing world if guys leave you got to be looking for transfer portal positions so we'll always be kind of watching that to see what pops up if there's a guy that can really help your team then you always go that but you notice this year we did not get into that quite as much we d

idn't need we didn't need to yeah and you're saying perhaps post spring if a need Rises yeah gotcha you feel better about the Bo's relationship with the transfer portal this year overall yeah I think you know it's like it's such a changing dynamic because you got to fill needs and sometimes times if you really need a guy to step in and play right away it's tough sometimes to go to that high school route and that's where the transfer portal kind of is needed and last year we we lost a lot of guys

so we kind of needed to jump into that the nice thing is we got some guys with multiple years that were in the portal which ideally I think you want to do because then you can kind of build some continuity and stuff like that so I think we've done that and I think I feel really good about the roster we've got coming back all right I I have to ask this this totally unrelated to anything we've been talking about but you're a Speedster you still work out a ton okay how many guys have you lined up

and raced on the the 120 guys of the 120 guys that are B few how many lineman could you be Justin if I can't beat our lineman I probably am I'm in trouble I I know I can beat our linemen that's for sure you're still sub 540 let's go yeah I can get I can get below 5 seconds for sure let's go yeah I I knew a guy one time that claimed he Coulda claimed he could but he did not I've seen that clip before yeah uh we need to you need to you need to do give me the speed training okay I need you to help

got you got best mustache in the game let's go oh thanks Justin great good to see you man