Stephen Anderson (American football)

Stephen Anderson (born January 30, 1993) is an American football tight end for the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at California and signed with the Houston Texans as an undrafted free agent in 2016.[1][2]

Stephen Anderson
Anderson in 2016 with the Texans.
No. 82 – Los Angeles Chargers
Position:Tight end
Personal information
Born: (1993-01-30) January 30, 1993
San Jose, California
Height:6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight:230 lb (104 kg)
Career information
High school:Piedmont Hills (CA)
College:California
Undrafted:2016
Career history
Roster status:Active
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of Week 7, 2020
Receptions:36
Receiving yards:435
Receiving touchdowns:2
Player stats at NFL.com

Early years

Anderson attended and played high school football for Piedmont Hills High School.[3] He graduated from Piedmont Hills in 2011 and attended the University of California, Berkeley.[4]

College career

Anderson attended and played college football for the University of California Golden Bears from 2011–2015.[5][6]

Anderson redshirted as a true freshman in 2011. As a redshirt freshman in 2012, he appeared in four games.[7] In the 2013 season opener against Portland State, he had his first three career collegiate receptions for 22 yards.[8] Overall, in the 2013 season, he had 14 receptions for 125 yards.[9] His role in the offense expanded in 2014. On September 20, against Arizona, he had 43 receiving yards and his first collegiate touchdown.[10] In the next game, against Colorado, he had seven receptions for 136 yards and a touchdown.[11] In the next game at Washington State, he had five receptions for 95 yards.[12] On October 24, in the game against Oregon at Levi's Stadium, he had 32 receiving yards and a touchdown in the loss.[13] On November 1, against Oregon State, he had nine receptions for 117 yards.[14] Overall, in the 2014 season, he had 46 receptions for 661 yards and five touchdowns.[15] His production dropped in the 2015 season, but he remained as a presence in the offense. On October 10, against Utah, he had six receptions for a season-high 99 yards.[16] In the 2015 season, he finished with 41 receptions for 474 yards and two touchdowns.[17] Overall, he played in 37 games with 25 starts all during the last four seasons of his five campaigns with the program. He finished his career with 101 receptions for 1,260 yards and seven touchdowns.[18] He earned both honorable mention All-Pac-12 selection of the league’s coaches and Cal’s Ken Cotton Award as the team’s Most Courageous Player as a junior and senior.[19][20]

College statistics
Year School Pos G Rec Yds Avg TD
2013 California WR 8 14 125 8.9 0
2014 California WR 10 46 661 14.4 5
2015 California TE 12 41 474 11.6 2
Career California 101 1,260 12.5 7

Professional career

Anderson was one of 15 tight ends to receive an invitation to attend the NFL combine. Although he primarily played wide receiver at Cal, he chose to transition to tight end.[21] He was limited to performing the bench press, vertical jump, and broad jump due to a hamstring injury. Anderson was the lightest tight end and tied UCLA's Thomas Duarte as the shortest of the tight ends at 6'2". Among his position group at the combine, he finished first in the vertical jump (38"), fourth in the broad jump (9'11"), and tenth in the bench press (16).[22] On March 18, 2016, Anderson opted to participate at Cal's pro day, along with Jared Goff, Bryce Treggs, Daniel Lasco, Maurice Harris, Kenny Lawler, Trevor Davis, Kyle Kragen, Stefan McClure, Darius Powe, and two others. His performance in the 40-yard dash, 20-yard dash, and 10-yard dash would've finished first among his position group at the combine. Anderson's time in the three-cone drill would've garnered him fourth place. He also ran positional drills and caught passes for the team representatives and scouts from all 32 NFL teams.[23] At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Anderson was projected to be selected as early as the fourth to fifth round or as late as the sixth to seventh round. He was ranked as the top fullback prospect in the draft by NFLDraftScout.com.[24]

Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand size 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Broad jump Bench press
6 ft 2 1⁄8 in
(1.88 m)		 230 lb
(104 kg)		 32 in
(0.81 m)		 9 1⁄4 in
(0.23 m)		 4.64 s 1.59 s 2.69 s 4.13 s 6.95 s 38 in
(0.97 m)		 9 ft 11 in
(3.02 m)		 16 reps
All values from NFL Combine/Cal's Pro Day[25]

Houston Texans

Anderson went undrafted in the 2016 NFL Draft. On April 30, 2016, the Houston Texans signed Anderson as an undrafted free agent to a three-year, $1.62 million contract that includes a $5,000 signing bonus.[26][27]

2016

Throughout his first training camp, he competed with Anthony Denham and Eric Tomlinson for a roster spot. Anderson received a bulk of first team reps during training camp after C. J. Fiedorowicz and Ryan Griffin missed stretches of camp due to injuries.[28] Head coach Bill O'Brien named Anderson the Texans' third tight end, behind C. J. Fiedorowicz and Ryan Griffin, to begin the regular season.[29] Offensive coordinator George Godsey developed a hybrid H-back role for Anderson, better utilizing his speed and receiving ability.[30]

He made his professional regular season debut in the Houston Texans' season-opener against the Chicago Bears and caught three passes for 25-yards during the 23-14 victory. He made his first career reception at the start of the second quarter, catching a 12-yard pass from Brock Osweiler before being tackled by Bears' safety Adrian Amos.[31][32] In Week 3, Anderson suffered a hamstring injury during the Texans' 27-0 loss at the New England Patriots.[33] Unfortunately, the injured hamstring caused him to miss the next three games (Weeks 4-6).[34] On November 13, 2016, Anderson caught a seven-yard touchdown pass from Brock Osweiler, as the Texans defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars 24-21.[35] He was wide open for the touchdown reception after Brock Osweiler rolled out and caused the Jaguars to blow their coverage.[36] He finished his rookie season in 2016 with a total of 11 receptions for 93 receiving yards and one touchdown in 13 games and zero starts.[37]

The Houston Texans finished atop the AFC South with a 9-7 record in 2016.[38][39] On January 7, 2017, Anderson made his playoff debut in the Texans 24-17 AFC Wildcard victory over the Oakland Raiders.[40] They were eliminated the following game after losing a 34-16 game to the eventual Super Bowl LI Champions the New England Patriots.[41]

2017

He competed for a roster spot throughout training camp against Rashaun Allen, Evan Baylis, and Zach Conque.[42] He was named the Texans' third tight end on their depth chart behind Fiedorowicz and Griffin.

He earned his first career start in the Houston Texans' season-opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars and caught two passes for 14-yards before leaving the game after suffering a concussion. C. J. Fiedorowicz and Ryan Griffin also suffered concussions during the Texans' 29-7 loss.[43][44] He remained in concussion protocol and was inactive for the Texans' Thursday Night Football game against the Cincinnati Bengals four days later.[45] On October 8, 2017, Anderson caught two passes for a season-high 63-yards in Houston's 42-34 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.[46][47] Anderson became the second tight end on the Texans' depth chart after C. J. Fiedorowicz missed eight games after suffering his second concussion. On December 3, 2017, Anderson caught a season-high five passes for 79-yards and a touchdown in the Texans' 24-13 loss at the Tennessee Titans.[48] His first touchdown of the season came on a four-yard pass by Tom Savage in the second quarter.[49] Overall, he finished his second professional season with 25 receptions for 342 yards and a touchdown.[50]

On September 1, 2018, Anderson was waived by the Texans.[51]

New England Patriots

On September 6, 2018, Anderson was signed to the New England Patriots' practice squad.[52] He was promoted to the active roster on January 8, 2019.[53] Anderson won Super Bowl LIII after the Patriots defeated the Los Angeles Rams 13-3.[54] He was waived during final roster cuts on August 31, 2019.[55] He was signed to the practice squad a day later.[56] On September 9, 2019, he was released from the practice squad.[57]

Los Angeles Chargers

On September 11, 2019, Anderson was signed to the Los Angeles Chargers practice squad.[58] He was promoted to the active roster on October 1, 2019.[59] He was waived on October 12 and re-signed to the practice squad.[60] He signed a futures contract with the Chargers on December 30, 2019.[61]

Professional statistics
YearTmGGSTgtRecYdsY/RTDLngR/GY/G
2016HOU 1301611938.51140.87.2
2017HOU 155522534213.71421.722.8
Career285683643512.12421.315.5

References
  1. "Texans like rookie tight end Stephen Anderson's upside".
  2. "Hybrid receiver Stephen Anderson intent on making cut for Texans".
  3. Faraudo, Jeff (September 24, 2015). "Cal receiver Stephen Anderson always hears mom above the crowd". The Mercury News. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  4. "Stephen Anderson, California Golden Bears, Tight End". 247Sports. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  5. "Stephen Anderson". University of California Athletics. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  6. "Stephen Anderson College Stats". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  7. "Stephen Anderson". University of California Athletics. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  8. "Portland State at California Box Score, September 7, 2013". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  9. "Stephen Anderson 2013 Game Log". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  10. "California at Arizona Box Score, September 20, 2014". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  11. "Colorado at California Box Score, September 27, 2014". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  12. "California at Washington State Box Score, October 4, 2014". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  13. "Oregon at California Box Score, October 24, 2014". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  14. "California at Oregon State Box Score, November 1, 2014". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  15. "Stephen Anderson 2014 Game Log". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  16. "California at Utah Box Score, October 10, 2015". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  17. "Stephen Anderson 2015 Game Log". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  18. "Stephen Anderson Career Game Log". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  19. "Pac-12 football all-Conference team announced". Pac-12. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  20. "Senior Spotlight: TE Stephen Anderson Showing Value In Cal Offense". CBS SF Bay Area. October 14, 2015. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
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  22. James Brady (February 27, 2016). "NFL Combine 2016 results: Full times, measurements for tight ends". sbnation.com. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  23. "Cal Pro Day A Huge Success - California". University of California Berkeley. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
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  32. "Chicago Bears at Houston Texans - September 11th, 2016". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  33. Rotowire (September 23, 2016). "Texans' Stephen Anderson: Exits with hamstring injury". cbssports.com. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
  34. Rotowire (October 2, 2016). "Texans' Stephen Anderson: Inactive for Week 4 versus Titans". cbssports.com. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
  35. "Houston Texans at Jacksonville Jaguars - November 13th, 2016". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
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  54. https://www.californiagoldenblogs.com/2019/2/3/18209825/super-bowl-liii-nfl-jared-goff-cj-anderson-stephen-anderson-brian-schwenke-rams-patriots-mcvay-brady
  55. Yang, Nicole. "Patriots rumor roundup: Here's who won't make New England's 53-man roster". Boston.com. Retrieved August 31, 2019.
  56. Kyed, Doug. "Patriots Practice Squad Tracker: Stephen Anderson, Terez Hall Retained". NESN.com. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
  57. Thomas, Oliver. "Patriots release tight end Stephen Anderson from practice squad, reportedly host two free agents". PatsPulpit.com. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
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  60. "Chargers Promote Jason Moore to Active Roster". Chargers.com. October 12, 2019.
  61. "Chargers Sign Eight Players to Reserve/Future Contracts". Chargers.com. December 30, 2019.
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