Looking for the next star NFL pass rusher?
You may need look no further than Saturday’s BYU-Notre Dame game.
No. 47 for the Cougars is defensive end/outside linebacker Ziggy Ansah, a former track athlete from Ghana who didn’t begin playing football until 2010. Notre Dame color analyst Mike Mayock happens to be pretty plugged-in when it comes to NFL draft prospects, and he showered some praise on Ansah during Saturday’s broadcast.
“I was on the phone today with three different NFL teams about Ziggy Ansah,” Mayock said. “6-foot-6, 270. Before the season, had little to no NFL rating. Right now, he’s the buzz of the NFL for the upcoming draft. Apparently, everybody on the West Coast, all their scouts are saying ‘Here’s a kid that’s come from nowhere and might be playing his way into the first round next April.'”
Ansah doesn’t have overwhelming college stats. Neither did Jason Pierre-Paul.
But he is a high-impact edge defender with speed, size, and mammoth upside, and Mayock happens to have a pretty good eye for talent.
“This kid is special off the edge,” Mayock said, before Saturday’s game even started. “No matter who’s coming to block him, he’s a handful.”
(Photo credit: ABC 4 Salt Lake)