Robby Anderson is a wide receiver for the Carolina Panthers. The former Temple Owl is a native of Fair Lawn, New Jersey and played at South Plantation High School. Anderson was a three-star wide receiver when he joined Temple’s 2011 recruiting class, but despite joining Temple as a wide receiver, Anderson contributed primarily on special teams and as a defensive back with the Owls until head coach Matt Rhule was hired by the university in 2013 and switched Anderson back to receiver. Upon making that switch, Anderson immediately became a key contributor for the Owls, catching 44 passes for 791 yards and nine touchdowns in 2013, with his college stats showing a line of 70-939-7 in 2015 after being academically ineligible in 2014. Anderson was invited to participate in the 2016 East-West Shrine Game after the conclusion of the senior season.
Following the 2015 season, Robby Anderson would enter the NFL Draft only to go undrafted despite a 4.41 40 time and a 103.2 (79th-percentile) speed score. The New York Jets would sign Anderson to a three-year, $1.63 million contract soon after the draft, who he went on to play four seasons with.
In his four seasons with the Jets, Anderson amassed 207 receptions for 3,509 yards and 20 touchdowns, before being signed by the Carolina Panthers and his old college coach, Matt Rhule during the 2020 offseason. Following his signing with the Panthers, Anderson posted his best season to date, when he caught a career-high 90 passes for 1,096 yards and three touchdowns. In that season, Anderson totaled 1,328 air yards, saw 22 targets and was the WR8 in target share at 26.3%. He also ranked fifth in yards after the catch with 486. He ranked 12th in total deep balls (22) on 548 routes run, but also had seven drops. He also ranked fifth in total YAC with 486 yards thanks in part to his elite speed.
Things appeared to be looking up for Anderson heading into 2021, but the success he saw in 2020 proved difficult to replicate. After the Panthers went on to trade for Sam Darnold, and sign Cam Newton following an injury to Darnold, things derailed for Anderson in a big way. He posted a career-low 519 receiving yards on 53 receptions despite finishing the year with 110 targets, which ranked as the 27th most targets for any wide receiver in the league. His production was hampered by underwhelming quarterback play that featured a target quality rating of 4.32, which ranked 94th amongst wide receivers, while the 6.2 target accuracy he saw ranked 110th.
Heading into his age 29 season, Anderson should still have plenty in the tank if Carolina can fix its woes on the offensive side of the ball, particularly at quarterback. An underwhelming 2021 will likely deflate his ADP in 2022 drafts, but there’s plenty of reason to believe in a bounce back season following what was arguably the worst year of his career.
