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Ziggy Ansah didn't start a game until the fifth game of his senior season against Hawaii. Since that start, Ansah has gone from unknown to the fifth overall draft pick of the Detroit Lions and the national media has taken notice.
ESPN's Mel Kiper has been covering the draft for the better part of three decades, "This is the number one meteoric rise ever in my 35 years of doing this."
"He is a boom or bust candidate. I love the kid, I'm rooting for him. Three years from now, he's either an All-Pro or he's on the streets." said NFL Network's Mike Mayock.
NFL Network's Rich Eisen gave the often told description, "A young man, who just a couple years ago, hadn't even played the sport, we have a fifth overall pick with 4 1/2 career sacks."
"Please understand the magnitude of this story," said Mayock, "the reason he is playing football is the BYU basketball team cut him twice, then he went to the track team, he never came to football until 2010 as a walk-on. He's 6'5", 270 lbs, and he's got frightening physical skills."
At the Senior Bowl, Ansah was named the South's most outstanding player.
"Coming off the edge at the Senior Bowl, he dominated the football game." said Mayock.
"There is a play in the senior bowl game, where Denard Robinson, the quarterback from Michigan, is playing wide receiver, they give him the ball on a reverse and (Anshah) gets initially fooled on the reverse, he opened his hips, he stuck his foot in the ground, and he chased Denard Robinson down with no angle and I went 'Wow'." said Mayock.
"And that right there is when he got drafted." Michael Irvin.
"He ran a 10.9 100 meters. This guy can fly. A 4.63 at the combine, but you talk about need, because (Lions) have some tackles with Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley, but when you lose (Cliff) Avril and (Kyle) Vanden Bosch, you need some outside presence. This guy will give you that, they can score points on offense, but Jim Swartz will be happy to have another pass rusher." said former 49ers head coach Steve Mariucci.
Three-time Super Bowl champion with the Dallas Cowboys, Michael Irvin explained the importance of mobile defensive ends, "Guys like this, big, tall guys, they have to get these guys on the team because the quarterbacks are so mobile now. And it's not just about the technique on beating the offensive line, it's also the kind of wheels you got, to chase that mobile quarterback."
