The University of Toledo’s two-year hiatus from the NFL draft ended with a thunderclap.
During a six-pick span on Saturday, the Cincinnati Bengals took UT safety Tycen Anderson, and the San Francisco 49ers drafted cornerback Samuel Womack.
Anderson’s selection wasn’t a surprise. Some draft analysts actually had him going sooner. But Womack’s inclusion in the festivities, despite rumblings that his stock was rising, was a fifth-round stunner.
In the pass-happy NFL, however, cornerbacks have become a valuable commodity.
“You can’t have enough good corners,” 49ers general manager John Lynch said. “Very highly productive player. Can really run. Productive around the ball.”
Anderson and Womack are the first Toledo players drafted since Pittsburgh took wide receiver Diontae Johnson in the third round in 2019. The Rockets have had eight players drafted since 2017, a program record during a six-year period in the modern era.
Running back Bryant Koback signed as an undrafted free agent with the Minnesota Vikings.
Anderson, a former St. John’s Jesuit standout, took a phone call just before 3 p.m. and turned to his mother, Sandra, and hollered, “Mama, we’re going to Cincinnati!”
His Toledo home, filled with family, friends, and teammates, erupted in euphoria.
“Tycen Anderson has all of those physical and athletic traits that will excite the Cincinnati Bengals,” ESPN draft expert Mel Kiper, Jr., said.
The Bengals liked Anderson enough that they traded up to get him. In 2021, Anderson only allowed 233 yards receiving, the lowest among MAC defensive backs. He became a sensation at the combine with the 29th-best (out of 788) Relative Athletic Score at his position since 1987.
The 6-foot-2, 209-pound Anderson has 33-inch arms. He ranked second among safeties in the 40-yard dash, second in the three-cone drill, fourth in the 20-yard shuttle, and eighth in the vertical and broad jump.
“The way he plays the game, he’s smart,” Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo said. “He gives us flexibility to do a bunch of different things. He was very intriguing to me. We did a great job willing to get him.”
Cincinnati surrendered the seventh-most passing yards per game last season (248.4 yards), giving up a 15-play, 72-yard touchdown drive to the Los Angeles Rams in the final minutes of the Super Bowl. Only 15 of the 72 yards came on the ground, as Matthew Stafford completed seven passes and the Bengals were flagged for defensive holding and pass interference.
Anderson was one of three safeties drafted by the Bengals.
“This is a pick that’s based strictly on upside potential,” Kiper said of Anderson. “Late in the draft, you want guys who have a skill set that can maybe turn it up a notch when they get the NFL. And that’s Tycen Anderson. He has the ability to go from Point A to Point B in a blink. The talent is there.”
In five seasons at UT, Anderson had 233 tackles, including nine tackles for loss and two sacks, two interceptions, 16 pass breakups, and two forced fumbles. He was a difference-maker from the outset, recording 30 tackles and five pass breakups as a true freshman during UT’s 2017 MAC championship season.
Anderson was a three-year captain and two-time All-MAC selection.
“I know I’m a leader and know that my voice needs to be heard,” Anderson said, “and I know when I stand up and say something it’s going to be the right thing.”
Patrolling the secondary with Anderson all five years was Womack, UT’s career leader with 41 pass breakups. The former walk-on led the MAC in pass breakups in 2019, 2020, and 2021, ranking second nationally in 2019 and fourth in 2021.
Womack, a two-year captain, had 126 career tackles, including 4.5 tackles for loss, with five interceptions, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery. At 5-foot-10, he’s considered undersized, but Womack has an uncharacteristically large wingspan and he had elite numbers at Toledo’s pro day, sending his draft stock surging.
He ran a sub-4.4 40-yard dash (4.39), had a 36-inch vertical jump, a 9-foot, 10-inch broad jump, a 4.18-second pro agility time, and completed the three-cone drill in 6.87 seconds.
“It was so surreal,” Womack said about getting drafted. “I really couldn’t believe it when I got the call. I saw the area code so I knew what team it was coming from. Once I saw my name on that board, i saw my family light up. It was an amazing moment.”
First Published April 30, 2022, 7:11 p.m.
