“It’s also a role that requires a great motor and good discipline, both of which Sanborn has. “Wisconsin is a program where most players make their mark on special teams before seeing the field as a starter,” Kenney said. Sanborn has all the traits to be a hired gun on special teams with his energy, toughness, and closing burst. The only problem last year? There were times Leo Chenal and Sanborn both got free, Chenal was just so unbelievably quick that he got there first.” “Those two traits mixed with well-timed rushes and more pass-rush moves than most inside linebackers have, you see why he gets in the backfield so often. He’s faster around the edge than most tackles and has the strength to meet interior linemen in the middle,” Kenney said. The Badger linebacker is able to run over running backs and has a nice combination of strength and quickness to get home as a blitzer. Sanborn finished his career with 11.5 sacks. Why didn’t Sanborn have a lot of reps in coverage? Because he’s more effective as a blitzer.

He’s probably a linebacker a team would want to keep away from open space with the NFL’s top tight ends and running backs.” “I’d say his strengths definitely lie coming downhill against the run. “He has the capability to run with some running backs and most tight ends, yet he wasn’t asked to do it a lot at Wisconsin,” Kenney said. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Sanborn has the lateral agility, quickness to match up with running backs at the next level. It’s something that he wasn’t asked to do a ton of at Wisconsin. The biggest question mark with Sanborn will be how he holds up in space at the next level. His trio of intelligence, motor, and fundamentals is hard to replicate.” “The discipline is tremendous to find the right gap, but Sanborn seemed to make the tackle every time he met the runner. “Sanborn is a tremendous tackler,” Kenney said. He drops his pads and jars the ballcarrier. He’s a physical tackler and delivers a pop at contact. Sanborn has a high batting average as a tackler. A “nose for the football” is an overused term, yet it does apply perfectly here.”

“Nobody thought TJ Edwards would be that great of a professional, yet he had 100 tackles for the Eagles this year because of just that: intelligence and a great motor.

“He’s the next in a long line of Wisconsin linebackers that are always in the right place,” Kenney said.

Jim leonhard packers