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South Carolina DT TJ Sanders 2025 NFL Draft Profile

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Ryan Roberts | Last updated Nov 7, 2024 5:28 PM ET

TJ Sanders, defensive tackle

6-4, 290 pounds

South Carolina

21 years old (7/30/2003)

TJ Sanders career statistics

YEAR	TOTAL TACKLES	TFLs	SACKS
2021	0	0	0
2022	16	1	1
2023	43	10	4.5
2024	30	4	3
CAREER TOTALS	89	15	8.5

Pros:

Short area quickness
For a player who is around 290 pounds, Sanders is incredibly quick and agile. He has a few reps every game where he has your jaw drop to the floor. In terms of one-gapping, there aren’t many better than Sanders. His short area athleticism is exceptional.
Pass rush upside
South Carolina asks Sanders to play a lot of reduced alignments, which does limit his ability on passing downs. When the Gamecocks let him loose, Sanders has some big potential to affect quarterbacks. He is a slippery interior rusher with legitimate closing speed.
Alignment versatility
Whether you are an even or odd front team, Sanders brings a lot of value to a prospective team. He has a tremendous combination of length, twitch, and raw power to project to multiple alignments. Sanders is a weapon for an aggressive front.

South Carolina DT TJ Sanders (#90) is one of the more physically gifted defensive lineman potentially in the 2025 NFL Draft class. Twitched up and explosive at 6-4 and 290 pounds.

One of the more loose interior rushers in CFB. pic.twitter.com/JQpxLmdspc
— Ryan Roberts (@RiseNDraft) November 7, 2024

Cons:

Consistent anchor
Sanders has no issue hand fighting at the point of attack, but his anchor is extremely inconsistent right now. He can stalemate double teams at all, but he can also get dug out at times. That’s the biggest negative in his game right now.

Hand placement
There is underlying power to Sanders profile, but his strike consistency fails him. Sanders has some mistimed punches that allow offensive lineman to get inside of him. His timing and placement needs to be a lot better.
Physical development
This goes along with his anchor. Right now, Sanders is a very slender-framed player who needs to continue adding good weight to his frame. If he can, then his overall power profile should take a nice step forward.

Player Evaluation:

In what is an incredibly deep and talented interior defensive lineman class for the 2025 NFL Draft class, there aren’t many who are more athletically gifted than Sanders. He is smooth, explosive, and versatile. When he’s at his best, Sanders is at attack-style player who makes a ton of plays behind the line of scrimmage.

The biggest negative in Sanders’ game is overall anchor and his underdeveloped frame. He has a really nice frame, and that power profile should continue to develop. If it does, he has plus starter upside. If not, then he could just be a situational player.

Player Comparison:

Dre'Mont Jones (Seattle Seahawks)

From a pure athleticism perspective, you won’t find many more gifted than Sanders. He’s a player who can play in either an even or odd front, and make plays from multiple alignments, specializing as a penetration-style player.