It’s difficult to stand out as a defensive lineman in a class that has plenty of them in all shapes and sizes, but South Carolina DT T.J. Sanders consistently dominated throughout the week of Senior Bowl practices.
His athleticism was immediately apparent when watching him in Indy drills and he has good technique to turn that speed into power. Some of that footwork and athleticism comes from his background as a two-sport athlete in high school where he played basketball as a “positionless” player.
He told our Jonathan Heitritter in Mobile, Ala., how that helped his game on the gridiron.
“I think the way I move laterally, like the way I’m able to explode from going lateral to vertical,” Sanders said. “I feel like basketball has definitely helped a lot. My crossover, things like that.”
Every pass rushers has a fast ball, or a pass-rush move off which they try to build their whole repertoire. For Sanders, he mentioned a couple moves.
“I’m either building off my swipe or my stutter-bull,” Sanders told me. “If I miss a swipe, I go right to counter, right to power. And that’s just all my mindset. If I’m coming off the ball, I’m gonna show, show, show go to a bull or I’m gonna swipe.”
Here is a clip of Sanders bulling right over LSU OL Garrett Dellinger, via Ryan Roberts on X.
Sanders was productive as an interior pass rusher in college with 9.5 sacks and 18 tackles for loss in really just three seasons of playing. He also had six passes defensed and 70 total pressures with a steady year-by-year improvement. He finished with 33 pressures in 2024.
“Honestly, there was a time where I wasn’t as confident in my moves,” Sanders said. “I was honestly just more of a put my hands on [the] guy and just trying my best to bull. And I wasn’t seeing much success in that and knew I was able to pass rush, and I had a few moves for my repertoire but just wasn’t confident. Confidence is a huge part of football.”
At 6036, 284 pounds, with 33 1/2-inch arms, Sanders is somewhat of a tweener. Much like his basketball career in high school, he is positionless at the next level.
“I’m more of a natural three-tech, but I can play all over,” Sanders said. “I could play zero to five. Anywhere on the line.”
He’s a tad light to hold up every down inside, and not quite long or heavy enough to consistently hold up at five-tech out on the end. He will most likely be a penetrating three-tech for someone, but if he can add some weight in an NFL weight room, he has potential to be a fit for an odd-front defense like the Steelers’.
In terms of what he needs to improve on, he mentioned his run defense.
“Taking on two in the run game,” Sanders said. “I feel like I’ve improved, but just something I gotta continue to work on.”
Sanders confirmed that he had met with several people from the Steelers, but that group did not include head coach Mike Tomlin.
This is an aside, but super-agent Drew Rosenhaus came up to Sanders after my interview — as seen in above picture — and was telling him how much buzz and great feedback he was getting about Sanders from NFL teams throughout the Senior Bowl week.
