Danish defensive lineman Emil Bo Andersen commits to Virginia football

Last week, Streaking the Lawn mentioned that the Virginia Cavaliers’ first football camp of the summer had included a group of international prospects from Europe. That visit has now produced its first commitment to the University, in Denmark’s Emil Bo Andersen.

Andersen is a 6’7, 255-pound defensive lineman. According to PPI—the group that organized the camp circuit for the players—Andersen was the first prospect of the group to get an offer from Virginia, and committed basically on the spot.

The Danish big man will join the 2019 class and enroll at Virginia after a prep year with the Bristol Academy of Sport in England. A British analogue to schools like IMG Academy in the U.S., the Bristol Academy has produced two NFL signees the last two seasons: defensive end Alex Jenkins of the New Orleans Saints, and defensive back Tigie Sankoh with the Cleveland Browns.

Andersen follows in the footsteps of offensive lineman Gerrik Vollmer, a native of Hamburg who enrolled at UVA following a prep year in Connecticut.

This is definitely film of a developmental prospect. Andersen is big, which is nice. His frame can clearly add another 25–30 pounds of muscle. All of his game footage is against low-level competition so it’s hard to gauge his actual in-game talents. I do like how he works with his hands to get off blocks and pursue; that’s an important trait for gap control in an odd-front defensive line.

How you feel about this commitment should mostly be a reflection of how you feel about the coaching staff. If you trust them to spot raw talent and develop it—like they did with Ziggy Ansah at BYU—then you’re probably pretty excited. Here’s a kid they got to see in a practice setting, where they could see how he responded to their coaching, and they liked him enough to offer the first day they met him.

If you think they’re just muddling through without reeling in top-level talent, then this fits that narrative as well. Andersen should be a good piece after a few years in the program, but he is not likely to arrive on Grounds as an ACC-caliber player for the 2019 season.

It will be interesting to see whether Virginia can use Andersen to reel in any of the other PPI campers, two of whom have also landed offers from Florida.

For now: Velkommen til universitetet i Virginia, Emil!