BYU LB Zayne Anderson to have season-ending surgery, redshirt for remainder of year

BYU will be out with one of its top defensive playmakers for the remainder of the year.

Kalani Sitake announced on the “Sitake Show” that senior linebacker Zayne Anderson will have season-ending surgery. Zayne has yet to use his redshirt in his career and has played in only four games, so he will redshirt and return to BYU for the 2019 season. Anderson’s surgery is reportedly on his shoulder.

Zayne was BYU’s starting flash linebacker this season after starting all 12 games at safety in 2017. One of the fastest players on the team, Zayne had a game-changing interception in BYU’s upset win over Wisconsin. With Anderson out, senior Riggs Powell will likely step in and start.

Anderson already missed the McNeese State and Washington games, but decided to give it a go versus Utah State since he was able to play in one more game while still maintaining his redshirt status.

Although a big blow to this year’s team, one silver lining is that Anderson will bring experience to what should be a green linebacking unit next season. Starters Sione Takitaki and Butch Pau’u will graduate after this year, so Anderson will give BYU at least one experienced linebacker on next year’s team.

Here’s a to a quick and full recovery for Zayne!