Alex Anzalone
Tampa Bay BuccaneersModel Score
How good he is at what he is supposed to be doing, out of 100. Not a projection of what he will do next, and not a read on his contract. Median is about 70, and a 95 is rare. How it is built →
Season Stats · 16 games
Draft & College
He went about where consensus had him.
Covers the college seasons in our data, which does not always reach back to a player's first year.
Comps
STM Take
Four straight tier 2-3 STTM finishes (#21, #17, #12, #10) puts Anzalone in the small group of stable elite linebackers with consistent production. The Florida SEC 3rd-round origin plus five years of Lions starter reps under Dan Campbell gives him real structural anchor value. The 2026 question is whether Anzalone earns his first Pro Bowl plus crosses into tier 1 territory or whether the structural tier 2 ceiling caps below Pro Bowl voting.
Anzalone came out of Florida as the New Orleans Saints' 3rd-round pick (76th overall) in 2017 and spent four years in New Orleans before signing with the Detroit Lions in 2021. He has anchored the Lions' linebacker corps for five seasons. His STTM career runs tier 7 (#50) in 2021, tier 3 (#21) in 2022, tier 3 (#17) in 2023, tier 2 (#12) in 2024, and tier 2 (#10) in 2025.
Strengths
- Four straight top-21 STTM finishes confirms the structural top-15 LB ceiling exists across multiple seasons.
- Florida SEC pedigree plus five years of Lions structural anchor reps gives him real veteran market value.
Concerns
- No Pro Bowl recognition yet despite four straight top-21 STTM finishes flags a real gap between metric production and broader voting.
- Detroit's broader defensive identity around the Hutchinson primary pass-rush priority puts continued Anzalone production partly dependent on team-fit.
What to watch: Whether Anzalone earns his first Pro Bowl in 2026 plus holds tier 2 or better, the threshold for confirming the STTM dominance translates.