BYU football: Ezekiel Ansah is healthy, wrecks the New York Giants
BYU football’s Ziggy Ansah is back to his former self. Finally healthy, Ansah collected three sacks on Monday Night Football against the New York Giants.
Former BYU football defensive lineman Ziggy Ansah has had an impressive, albeit slightly disappointing career in the pros.
When healthy, the No. 5 overall pick in the 2013 NFL draft destroys opposing linemen. Unfortunately, Ansah has gone through stretches where he isn’t totally healthy.
Last year, he dealt with ankle injuries. That limited him to just 2.5 sacks on the season, just a year removed from his 14.5 sack season in 2015.
Now, it looks like Ziggy is back.
Last night on Monday Night Football, just hours after ESPN highlighted his charitable efforts in Ghana, Ansah annihilated the New York Giants offensive line en route to three sacks.
That’s right. In one game, he surpassed his 2016 sack total. Not too shabby for the former Cougar.
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Giants fans will be the first to tell you that left tackle Ereck Flowers isn’t the player they’d hoped he would be. Still, the way Ansah man-handled him so effortlessly is good news for the Detroit Lions.
When he’s healthy, he changes the entire defense for Detroit.
“The sack looks better than the hurry,” Ziggy told Tim Twentyman on the Lions’ website after the game. “That’s what I’m pad to do: Put the quarterback down with the ball in his hands. I’m just grateful I was able to get a few today. It feels great.”
Before the game, it was unknown how many snaps Ansah would play. He was dealing with a knee injury that limited him throughout the preseason.
But it certainly looks like Ziggy doesn’t have anything to worry about – he looks just like he did with BYU football. High motor, high energy, freakish athleticism.
It’s also worth noting that Ziggy is in the final year of his contract with the Lions. If he puts together a complete, healthy season (like 2015), he’s going to be looking at a huge payday – whether through the franchise tag, an extension or a new deal with another team.