Two NFL draft prospects who are often described as “generational talents” might seem like opposites, counterpoints. One plays defense, at a premium position, and his main focus is terrorizing quarterbacks. He starred for a traditional college power that continually ranks among the country’s top teams. The other plays offense, at a position that’s perpetually discounted in the modern NFL, and his focus centers on taking pressure quarterbacks. He starred for a traditional college power that’s going through the lean years, scuttling back toward pinnacles this program hasn’t reached in nearly two decades.
And yet, the defensive player, edge rusher Will Anderson Jr. of Alabama, and the offensive player, running back Bijan Robinson of Texas, share far more in common than anyone might expect. In fact, their respective paths to being “generational talents” started in the same place, with the same player.
That’s right. While growing up in Georgia, Anderson played running back, trucking youth opponents even with footballs tucked under his arm. He wore No. 28 because of one back in particular, an Oklahoma star who ran like a linebacker (meaning into and right through defenders). When Anderson thinks of generational talents, he starts there, with Adrian Peterson. “I was an outside kid, for real,” he says in an interview with . “But that was the one dude I tried to be like.”
Same for Robinson, for more obvious reasons. When he thinks of generational talents, he first mentions LeBron James. But then, he, too, in a separate interview with SI, invokes Peterson as the NFL player who most embodies this particular praise. Peterson made playing running back cool, because of how he ran—like a linebacker. “That’s the guy,” Robinson says. And, according to draft analysts, the closest comparison for his pro potential.
Robinson isn’t aware of Anderson’s love for the same player. When told, he says, “That’s pretty cool. I know a lot of linebackers who emulated Peterson, which is pretty weird.”
How would he, a running back forever, do in a tackling drill against Anderson, a running back briefly, before he outgrew the position and came to flatten them? Could Robinson imagine that collision? “Oh, yeah,” he says. “I’d tackle him.”
Strong words. Fair enough. For two so-called generational talents, anything seems possible. Neither set out to become that, to be described that. But here they are, both slated to go in the first round, with Anderson a lock and Robinson a mystery. And, with the draft looming in just less than a week, both spoke with SI about the notion of greatness and the phrase generational talents, plus what they’re hoping for and where they fit, both in the NFL and in terms of such greats.
