Minnesota Football Recruiting: Three-star defensive end M.J. Anderson commits to the Gophers

Missouri defensive end M.J. Anderson has claimed one of the last few oars for this recruiting class, verbally committing to play for head coach P.J. Fleck and the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

The Gophers offered Anderson back in January, and there has been a steady stream of Power 5 scholarship offers since. He was on campus last weekend for the annual BBQ. Anderson is good friends with D’Vion Harris, another Missouri defensive lineman who committed in April.

Get to know M.J. Anderson

Height: 6’3’’
Weight: 270

Power 5 Scholarship Offers: Arkansas, Duke, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Kentucky, Michigan State, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Purdue, Rutgers, and South Carolina

247 Sports Composite Rating: .8477

Scouting Report

Anderson broke his leg during fall camp last season, so there is no film from his junior year. As a sophomore, he played linebacker, but he is expected to end up at defensive end or defensive tackle at the college level. I’ll be interested to see where he plays as a senior this fall, as he is now fully recovered and cleared for game action. Anderson is certainly a unique combination of size, strength, and speed, which allows for some creativity in how he’ll be utilized on the defensive line. As an edge rusher, his gifts are abundantly clear from watching his sophomore highlights. He is explosive off the line of scrimmage, sets the edge to force the play inside, and possesses elite closing speed to get to the ball carrier. It’s a cliche, but “high motor” is the term you’ll hear a lot when talking about Anderson. Expect his stock to rise during and after his senior season.

Hudl Highlights (Link)

Two scholarships are left for this recruiting class, and it is believed that Fleck and co. are eyeing another wide receiver and another defensive back. But it has been implied that recent offensive line commit Tyler Cooper is a greyshirt candidate if the coaching staff is able to reel in one more offensive lineman. We’ll have to wait and see how that plays out.