Montana's Anderson looking good.

[mthoopsfan]

Most rookies do.

Most NFL players do. Honestly if he plays a step below Ray Lewis in any game some folks on this forum will rip him. He is probably the best Montana raised kid to enter the NFL draft ever. We should all cheer for him even if he made one unfortunate decision as a senior to become a Cat.

Pete Lazetich of Billings Senior and Stanford was the 36th pick in the draft in 1972, and was on the Stanford team that won 2 Rose Bowls.

 

[UncleRico]

Most NFL players do. Honestly if he plays a step below Ray Lewis in any game some folks on this forum will rip him. He is probably the best Montana raised kid to enter the NFL draft ever. We should all cheer for him even if he made one unfortunate decision as a senior to become a Cat.

Pete Lazetich of Billings Senior and Stanford was the 36th pick in the draft in 1972, and was on the Stanford team that won 2 Rose Bowls.

That is an awesome accomplishment for Pete. But he was a 245 lbs defensive lineman in 1972. Troy Andersen is a 242 LB that runs a 4.42 40 yard dash. Athletes have just evolved and become better. And they will be better in 20 years from now. Troy is the best football player to ever come out of high school in Montana. The only other I can think of in this generation that would be close would have been Matt Miller. I think if he would have stayed healthy in college he would still be playing on Sundays.

 

[mthoopsfan]

Pete Lazetich of Billings Senior and Stanford was the 36th pick in the draft in 1972, and was on the Stanford team that won 2 Rose Bowls.

That is an awesome accomplishment for Pete. But he was a 245 lbs defensive lineman in 1972. Troy Andersen is a 242 LB that runs a 4.42 40 yard dash. Athletes have just evolved and become better. And they will be better in 20 years from now. Troy is the best football player to ever come out of high school in Montana. The only other I can think of in this generation that would be close would have been Matt Miller. I think if he would have stayed healthy in college he would still be playing on Sundays.

Ryan Leaf. 2d pick in draft. I don't agree on Anderson. Biermann. Pat Donovan. Mike Tilleman. Jerry Kramer. Dwan Edwards. Pick 51. Scrafford. Shane Collins. Pick 47. Dan Carpenter. Pro Bowl. Dickenson. Osweiller. Dissly. Hauck.

 

[CDAGRIZ]

That is an awesome accomplishment for Pete. But he was a 245 lbs defensive lineman in 1972. Troy Andersen is a 242 LB that runs a 4.42 40 yard dash. Athletes have just evolved and become better. And they will be better in 20 years from now. Troy is the best football player to ever come out of high school in Montana. The only other I can think of in this generation that would be close would have been Matt Miller. I think if he would have stayed healthy in college he would still be playing on Sundays.

Ryan Leaf. 2d pick in draft. I don't agree on Anderson. Biermann. Pat Donovan. Mike Tilleman. Jerry Kramer. Dwan Edwards. Pick 51. Scrafford. Shane Collins. Pick 47. Dan Carpenter. Pro Bowl. Dickenson. Osweiller. Dissly. Hauck.

Jerry Kramer, noted Sandpoint, Montana high school grad.

 

[AZGrizFan]

That is an awesome accomplishment for Pete. But he was a 245 lbs defensive lineman in 1972. Troy Andersen is a 242 LB that runs a 4.42 40 yard dash. Athletes have just evolved and become better. And they will be better in 20 years from now. Troy is the best football player to ever come out of high school in Montana. The only other I can think of in this generation that would be close would have been Matt Miller. I think if he would have stayed healthy in college he would still be playing on Sundays.

Ryan Leaf. 2d pick in draft. I don't agree on Anderson. Biermann. Pat Donovan. Mike Tilleman. Jerry Kramer. Dwan Edwards. Pick 51. Scrafford. Shane Collins. Pick 47. Dan Carpenter. Pro Bowl. Dickenson. Osweiller. Dissly. Hauck.

This annointing of Anderson before he’s ever drafted, made a team or played a snap has gotten comical. GREAT list, PR.

 

[SoldierGriz]

It will be fun to see how all the posters on here do on their prediction of the round Troy gets picked! :roll:

It will be sad to see how quickly he snaps in two when playing in his first NFL camp.

There’s a LOT of miles on that frame…

This is where I am as well. He definitely put his best foot forward during his workouts - which is commendable. The talking heads are racking and stacking guys based on some of those numbers.

But, GMs will do far more - due diligence. Availability matters in the NFL - and TA missed some time with some pretty serious injuries during his time as a cat. They will account for this in their decisions. My guess is he will not go nearly as high as some of the talking heads suggest, or some on here hope.

Personally, I will cheer for him the moment he steps off the east-side pasture.

 

[SACCAT66]

Is he the greatest Football player to come from Montana? Maybe
Is he going to be the greatest NFL player to come out of Montana? Maybe
Will he get drafted before the 4th round? Maybe
Will he get drafted after the 3rd round? Maybe
Will he play his entire NFL career without getting seriously injured? Maybe
Will he get hurt and not be able to pay? Maybe
Will I root for every kid that came from Montana, or went to a Montana School? Yes (actually no, there is one guy that came form Montana, played for a Montana School, and in the NFL, that I never rooted for... But that was more personal than sports related)

 

[Dillon]

That is an awesome accomplishment for Pete. But he was a 245 lbs defensive lineman in 1972. Troy Andersen is a 242 LB that runs a 4.42 40 yard dash. Athletes have just evolved and become better. And they will be better in 20 years from now. Troy is the best football player to ever come out of high school in Montana. The only other I can think of in this generation that would be close would have been Matt Miller. I think if he would have stayed healthy in college he would still be playing on Sundays.

Ryan Leaf. 2d pick in draft. I don't agree on Anderson. Biermann. Pat Donovan. Mike Tilleman. Jerry Kramer. Dwan Edwards. Pick 51. Scrafford. Shane Collins. Pick 47. Dan Carpenter. Pro Bowl. Dickenson. Osweiller. Dissly. Hauck.

Speaking of Pat Donovan - I wrote an article about Mr. Donovan on how he became a member on our 1971 880 relay team for Helena High! Check it out @ Duke's Wonder Years on Facebook!

 

[kemajic]

That is an awesome accomplishment for Pete. But he was a 245 lbs defensive lineman in 1972. Troy Andersen is a 242 LB that runs a 4.42 40 yard dash. Athletes have just evolved and become better. And they will be better in 20 years from now. Troy is the best football player to ever come out of high school in Montana. The only other I can think of in this generation that would be close would have been Matt Miller. I think if he would have stayed healthy in college he would still be playing on Sundays.

Ryan Leaf. 2d pick in draft. I don't agree on Anderson. Biermann. Pat Donovan. Mike Tilleman. Jerry Kramer. Dwan Edwards. Pick 51. Scrafford. Shane Collins. Pick 47. Dan Carpenter. Pro Bowl. Dickenson. Osweiller. Dissly. Hauck.

Glad you didn't miss my boy Dwan.

 

[UncleRico]

That is an awesome accomplishment for Pete. But he was a 245 lbs defensive lineman in 1972. Troy Andersen is a 242 LB that runs a 4.42 40 yard dash. Athletes have just evolved and become better. And they will be better in 20 years from now. Troy is the best football player to ever come out of high school in Montana. The only other I can think of in this generation that would be close would have been Matt Miller. I think if he would have stayed healthy in college he would still be playing on Sundays.

Ryan Leaf. 2d pick in draft. I don't agree on Anderson. Biermann. Pat Donovan. Mike Tilleman. Jerry Kramer. Dwan Edwards. Pick 51. Scrafford. Shane Collins. Pick 47. Dan Carpenter. Pro Bowl. Dickenson. Osweiller. Dissly. Hauck.

I don't think you can compare NFL players 50 years ago to today's athletes. Osweiller made some money and had a couple good years. We all love Dave but as a 5'10 QB he never really got a legit shot in the NFL. Hauck was never drafted and was primarily a special teams guy. Like Colt Anderson he was an overachiever. Scrafford was undrafted but had a solid career. I don't anticipate Andersen having issues like Leaf did. He could have been great but his personal demons took over. Kroy had a solid NFL career but I don't think he was as good of an athlete as Andersen. I think we could have a good debate with Dwan, Collins and Dissly though. Dwan in particular with the length of his NFL career. Dissly was having a great start a couple years ago before he got hurt. Collins also had career cut short by injury but he was a complete stud. Health is an issue with any player in the NFL. But I think a lot of people are not appreciating what a great athlete Andersen is. The ability to excel at both QB and LB.. and yes he did excel. 1st team Big Sky QB and a couple years later defensive player of the year? Fastest LB at the combine?

 

[CDAGRIZ]

Ryan Leaf. 2d pick in draft. I don't agree on Anderson. Biermann. Pat Donovan. Mike Tilleman. Jerry Kramer. Dwan Edwards. Pick 51. Scrafford. Shane Collins. Pick 47. Dan Carpenter. Pro Bowl. Dickenson. Osweiller. Dissly. Hauck.

This annointing of Anderson before he’s ever drafted, made a team or played a snap has gotten comical. GREAT list, PR.

But his parents chose to raise him in Montana, so you have to root for him and use as much hyperbole as possible. Freakish is a good one. Crazy agile. Sick Bergen torchability. Best Montana football player ever. Ever. NFL careers don’t matter unless he has a good one. Basically, the main factors are the ones he can demonstrate.

 

[mthoopsfan]

I think it's necessary to compare current and past players. Otherwise, then the recent players would always be deemed to be the best. I don't agree with that. Hauck had 28 starts in the NFL. I thought the category was best football player to come out of MT, not best athlete, not fastest per pound. Yes, TA is a super good athlete, but his LB-ing skills are not yet as good as various other LB's, in my view. I assume he can improve those skills over time, and, as I've said before, the NFL loves fast athletic guys. The NFL liked them even in my day. To me, Leaf was a much better player; not even close. Yes, Leaf had problems, and also had some injuries. Troy may not have been a better athlete, but he was a damn good football player. TA has the potential to have a good NFL career, but I doubt that it will be anything like Dwan's. Plus Dwan played Pac-12. We'll see if TA gets 28 starts, and how many Pro Bowls, if any, he gets. Have any Cat fan picked TA to be pre-season All-Pro yet?

 

[mthoopsfan]

Ryan Leaf. 2d pick in draft. I don't agree on Anderson. Biermann. Pat Donovan. Mike Tilleman. Jerry Kramer. Dwan Edwards. Pick 51. Scrafford. Shane Collins. Pick 47. Dan Carpenter. Pro Bowl. Dickenson. Osweiller. Dissly. Hauck.

Jerry Kramer, noted Sandpoint, Montana high school grad.

He was burn in Jordan MT.

 

[UncleRico]

This annointing of Anderson before he’s ever drafted, made a team or played a snap has gotten comical. GREAT list, PR.

But his parents chose to raise him in Montana, so you have to root for him and use as much hyperbole as possible. Freakish is a good one. Crazy agile. Sick Bergen torchability. Best Montana football player ever. Ever. NFL careers don’t matter unless he has a good one. Basically, the main factors are the ones he can demonstrate.

And so far being a 1st team Big Sky QB and two years later defensive player of the year would be demonstrating for sure. As would running a 40 faster than all those Bama and Georgia LB's. He will have a good NFL career (if healthy like every other player being drafted) in my opinion. So I stand by my ever. We will all see though.

 

[UncleRico]

I think it's necessary to compare current and past players. Otherwise, then the recent players would always be deemed to be the best. I don't agree with that. Hauck had 28 starts in the NFL. I thought the category was best football player to come out of MT, not best athlete, not fastest per pound. Yes, TA is a super good athlete, but his LB-ing skills are not yet as good as various other LB's, in my view. I assume he can improve those skills over time, and, as I've said before, the NFL loves fast athletic guys. The NFL liked them even in my day. To me, Leaf was a much better player; not even close. Yes, Leaf had problems, and also had some injuries. Troy may not have been a better athlete, but he was a damn good football player. TA has the potential to have a good NFL career, but I doubt that it will be anything like Dwan's. Plus Dwan played Pac-12. We'll see if TA gets 28 starts, and how many Pro Bowls, if any, he gets. Have any Cat fan picked TA to be pre-season All-Pro yet?

Athletes are so much bigger and faster today so they are in fact better players. Dwan stayed healthy and played on some great defenses. He was recruited to PAC 12 in large part because of Dennis Erickson's connection to Montana..same thing with Osweiller when Dennis was at ASU. Dennis saw Dwan play basketball and saw how great his feet were for a big kid. No doubt Troy would have been a solid PAC 12 LB. Leaf had a amazing couple of years at WSU fo sure. But his difficulty in being coached went back to his high school days with Jack Johnson. Just go into CMR's trophy case and see the shrine to Dave Dickenson compared to Leaf's. That says a lot . Troy like Dwan is very coachable and a hard worker. We will see where Troy's career goes but I think he is going to excel.

 

[bigsky33]

I’ll be in shambles if I’m wrong. Probably never recover. You’ll be able to take a victory lap and bask in the glory of your accomplishment.

i can already see it - "we are the champions" plays, while bigsky33 celebrates with glee at troy andersen's selection as the 62nd pick of the 2022 nfl draft.

I really don't care where he is picked. It was fun to watch him when at MSU and I am thankful for the opportunity. He was special and I feel he does rank up there with the best to ever come out of Montana. This State has produced some really great football players so he is in good company. I hope he does well in the NFL. However, the average tenure in the NFL is about 3 years and many of the great football players that came out of Montana had their careers cut short with injuries. So, with his injury history, my expectations for him to exceed the average are not high. I root for all players from Montana that make it to the NFL and hope that they do well.

 

[UncleRico]

i can already see it - "we are the champions" plays, while bigsky33 celebrates with glee at troy andersen's selection as the 62nd pick of the 2022 nfl draft.

I really don't care where he is picked. It was fun to watch him when at MSU and I am thankful for the opportunity. He was special and I feel he does rank up there with the best to ever come out of Montana. This State has produced some really great football players so he is in good company. I hope he does well in the NFL. However, the average tenure in the NFL is about 3 years and many of the great football players that came out of Montana had their careers cut short with injuries. So, with his injury history, my expectations for him to exceed the average are not high. I root for all players from Montana that make it to the NFL and hope that they do well.

I agree. I think he is going to be a very good NFL player if he stays healthy. And as a Griz fan I will like watching him play on Sunday rather than Saturday.

 

[AZGrizFan]

i can already see it - "we are the champions" plays, while bigsky33 celebrates with glee at troy andersen's selection as the 62nd pick of the 2022 nfl draft.

I really don't care where he is picked. It was fun to watch him when at MSU and I am thankful for the opportunity. He was special and I feel he does rank up there with the best to ever come out of Montana. This State has produced some really great football players so he is in good company. I hope he does well in the NFL. However, the average tenure in the NFL is about 3 years and many of the great football players that came out of Montana had their careers cut short with injuries. So, with his injury history, my expectations for him to exceed the average are not high. I root for all players from Montana that make it to the NFL and hope that they do well.

Holy shit. Does this post fall into the “even a broke clock is right twice a day” syndrome? Because you finally made a non-emotional, fact-filled post about TA. I agree with everything said. But I DO fear for his injury history and how that’ll play into his durability. If he’s still in the league 3 years from now I think it’ll be a minor miracle…and it won’t be because of a lack of talent.

 

[Bear Spray]

I really don't care where he is picked. It was fun to watch him when at MSU and I am thankful for the opportunity. He was special and I feel he does rank up there with the best to ever come out of Montana. This State has produced some really great football players so he is in good company. I hope he does well in the NFL. However, the average tenure in the NFL is about 3 years and many of the great football players that came out of Montana had their careers cut short with injuries. So, with his injury history, my expectations for him to exceed the average are not high. I root for all players from Montana that make it to the NFL and hope that they do well.

Holy shit. Does this post fall into the “even a broke clock is right twice a day” syndrome? Because you finally made a non-emotional, fact-filled post about TA. I agree with everything said. But I DO fear for his injury history and how that’ll play into his durability. If he’s still in the league 3 years from now I think it’ll be a minor miracle…and it won’t be because of a lack of talent.

Well put. I hope they play him on situational plays where his speed will be an asset - ie covering tight ends. I hope they see if he can catch the ball, because he'd be a killer tight end. How do you cover him? He can run with anyone, run away from most, and he jumps like a gazelle....

 

[CDAGRIZ]

Jerry Kramer, noted Sandpoint, Montana high school grad.

He was burn in Jordan MT.

Correct. I thought it was the best player produced by a MT high school.