Battle Red Blog
When Houston Texans general manager Nick Caserio pulled off the 2023 NFL Draft stunner by grabbing quarterback C.J. Stroud and EDGE Will Anderson Jr back-to-back, it sent a message to the entire football world.
That message? Houston means business.
The following year, Caserio snatched up all-pro EDGE Danielle Hunter to play opposite Anderson Jr.
In his rookie year, Anderson Jr. played in 15 games, starting 13 of them. He racked up 45 combined tackles, 29 solo stops, 22 hits on the quarterback, 10 tackles for loss and 7 sacks.
Once Hunter arrived, Anderson Jr. competed in 14 games, with 37 combined tackles, 27 solo stops, 19 QB hits, 16 tackles for loss, 11 sacks, 1 forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
With this season’s locked in secondary, guaranteed to force opposing quarterbacks to hold the ball longer, expect Anderson’s pass defense numbers to rise again.
Every year the NFL tallies votes from the players throughout the league for the best of the best, running that list as a TV series called The NFL’s Top 100.
This year, Anderson Jr. not only made the Top 100, he cracked the topped 50.
Not only has the young start been learning from the wily veteran Hunter, he’s been passing his gained knowledge along to the younger players.
In just a few days, we’ll get to see a flash or two of what 2025 Will Anderson Jr. brings to the field when they take on the Minnesota Vikings at US Bank Stadium this Saturday at 3pm CST. While most week one preseason games feature pretty vanilla gameplans from all involved, it’s still football. Odds are the starters won’t be on field for very long, but the current depth chart has Anderson Jr. and Hunter starting.
