Rams 2022 Draft Prospect Profile: David Anenih (Edge, Houston)

[theramswire.usatoday.com] Rams 2022 Draft Prospect Profile: David Anenih (Edge, Houston)


Skyler Carlin
April 21, 2022 5:23 am PT

All signs are pointing toward the Los Angeles Rams selecting an edge defender in the 2022 NFL draft at some point. Following a special stretch of performances in the postseason, Von Miller elected to leave the Rams in favor of the Buffalo Bills in free agency.

With Miller now residing in Buffalo, Los Angeles’ edge rusher room features Leonard Floyd, Justin Hollins, Chris Garrett, and Terrell Lewis. Aside from Floyd, none of the other guys have consistently shown they can be full-time starters in the NFL.

While signing a veteran edge rusher is still a possibility for the Rams, drafting someone like David Anenih in the later rounds of the 2022 NFL draft could be in the cards for them as well.

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Background
Before attending Houston, Anenih played high school football and was on the track and field team. Anenih spent five years at Houston, improving his game each year at the college level.

Throughout his five collegiate seasons, Anenih combined for 20.5 sacks, 31.5 tackles for loss, and four forced fumbles. He also deflected seven passes in the 43 games that he appeared in for Houston.

Even though Anenih didn’t attend the NFL scouting combine, he did conduct drills at Houston’s pro day. Anenih would run a 4.74 40-yard dash, which would have been tied for 13th among edge rushers at the scouting combine with Aidan Hutchinson.


How he fits the Rams
Once you watch Anenih, you can tell that his explosiveness and speed off of the edge are what is going to intrigue teams in the NFL. While he isn’t the tallest edge defender at 6-foot-2, Anenih has extremely long arms that allow him to conjure up different ways to get after the quarterback.

Entering the NFL, Anenih has plenty of experience rushing the passer and he could immediately become a rotational edge rusher for the Rams. Working behind Floyd and the other front-seven members in Los Angeles would aid him in developing into a formidable edge rusher at the next level.

Anenih will need to improve his awareness and he’ll want to get better in areas of his game that don’t involve rushing the passer.

Draft projection
Mock drafts are extremely volatile on where certain players will go as it’s essentially everyone trying to pinpoint how teams will view certain prospects. We also tend to overvalue or undervalue players, which is why it’s nearly impossible to even predict the first five-to-ten picks in the first round.

Anenih is being projected anywhere from the fifth-to-seventh round range in the 2022 NFL draft. The Houston product should draw a ton of buzz on Day 3 of the draft, which happens to be the busiest day for the Rams.

Los Angeles owns seven picks on Day 3 and if they don’t select an edge rusher with the 104th overall pick, then someone like Anenih could be on their radar.