Rodney Anderson had just one healthy season in his three years at the University of Oklahoma. The big, 6-foot-0, 224-pound back was dominant in that one year recording over 1,400 yards from scrimmage and 18 touchdowns on an incredible 6.2 yards per carry.
Still, major injury concerns led to a low draft stock for Anderson after he declared for the 2019 NFL Draft. The Oklahoma Sooners star would end up falling to the Cincinnati Bengals with the 211th overall pick in the sixth round.
Despite having Joe Mixon, Gio Bernard, and Trayveon Williams ahead of him on the depth chart, the Bengals had high hopes for the talented rookie provided he could stay healthy.
However, Anderson's not-so-clean bill of health caught up with him quickly as he tore his ACL in the team's final preseason game — forcing him to miss his entire rookie campaign.
Anderson admitted that he might've rushed back from the injury that ended his junior season in college but, as he enters year number two in the NFL, the 23-year-old is focused on taking things slow.
“I feel like I was trying to maybe rush back to reach certain goals,” Anderson said, via the team’s website. “Like run the 40 at the combine. Get back for rookie minicamp, off-season training, training camp. I think all that rushing kind of put me in a bad situation when I got back to the season. I’m taking everything slow, doing it the right way, taking as much time as I need no matter what.”
In two preseason games in 2019, Anderson recorded 13 carries for just nine yards and zero touchdowns.
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