Will Anderson is building his resume at Alabama to the point that he’s drawing NFL comparisons a year before he’s even eligible for the NFL Draft.

The Alabama linebacker was the subject of a breakdown by ESPN analyst Matt Stinchcomb, who recently paid a visit to “McElroy and Cubelic In the morning” on WJOX out of Birmingham, Alabama. Stinchcomb said Anderson has already received comparisons to Derrick Thomas, the NFL great who played for the Kansas City Chiefs, because of first-step quickness. But Stinchcomb has another former NFL player in mind.

“He’s like a long lever guy, with crazy speed,” Stinchcomb said. “He’s more Jason Taylor to me than Derrick Thomas, in that his speed to power, I really don’t know how you do a good job of anchoring against that. Because his first step is so great, that you have to get out of your stance quickly. But then he transitions to power so well, and he’s so long. The most intimidating part is how long his arms are. Or how long they look, I don’t know, maybe it’s the sleeves or something.”

Anderson is poised to have another huge year for Alabama, and he will likely be the defensive player most in the conversation for the Heisman Trophy this season.