For NFL fans who don’t follow college football closely, player comparisons are a great tool to give them perspective on what type of player their team might be getting. Our friends over that Touchdown Wire did a great job breaking down their Top 50 prospects and offering some great current player comparisons for them.
Two of those prospects drew comparisons to the two best players on the Steelers defense, which is high praise. TD Wire has Alabama edge Will Anderson Jr. being a comp to outside linebacker T.J. Watt. They also have Alabama safety Brian Branch getting the comp to Minkah Fitzpatrick.
High praise indeed when you consider Watt and Fitzpatrick could be considered the best in the NFL at their respective positions. Touchdown Wire also has Utah cornerback Clark Phillips III’s comparison to former Steelers cornerback Mike Hilton.
Anderson is a lock to be a top-four pick this season and could go as high as No. 2 overall. Branch is a fringe first-round prospect thanks to less-than-spectacular triangle numbers. Branch could actually be a target of the Steelers with that first pick in the second round to bring in a guy to pair up with Fitzpatrick in the defensive secondary.
