Will Anderson Jr. had about as good a performance as any NFL defensive rookie in his debut.
Before he even lined up for his first snap, Anderson made sure to take in the moment.
"Thank God I let my cry out in warmup before the game even started," Anderson said, laughing. "It was a surreal moment before the game even started. Like we do these little things, I usually walk the field and I usually warm up. But on Sunday, it was different. It was a different type of feeling. I walked out there and I looked up and it finally hit me. I was like, you're really in the NFL. So that kind of got all my nerves and everything out of the way. So when we got suited up, got together the team and walked out, I was fine."
The Houston Texans No. 3 overall pick was better than just fine, recording his first career sack against one of the league's most elusive quarterbacks, Lamar Jackson. He also finished with one tackle for loss, two quarterback hits and six tackles (four solo) in the Texans Week 1 game at Baltimore on Sunday.
According to Next Gen Stats, Anderson also generated six pressures and six defensive stops in his NFL debut. His pressures were the most by a rookie in Week 1 since Nick Bosa and Josh Allen in 2019 while his defensive stops were tied for the most by a rookie EDGE in Week 1 in the NGS era (since 2016).
Head Coach DeMeco Ryans plans to make the most of his rookie defensive end's size, speed and versatility.
"Will is definitely a versatile rusher where we can move him around multiple places," Ryans said. "He doesn't just have to align on the left side. We'll move him around, left, right. If we have to put him over guards wherever we feel like he can be an effective rusher and get after the quarterback. That's what we'll put him."
Even Anderson's five older sisters, who often give him plenty of tough love, liked what they saw. While Anderson is happy to hear it, he says he doesn't plan on letting any of the positive chatter get to his head.
"They always have a little something, something to say, but overall, they said I did pretty good," Anderson said. "So, I'm going to take that and not look at it too much because next week they'll probably say something bad."
Next week, Anderson and the Texans will host the Indianapolis Colts in the 2023 home opener. Kickoff from NRG Stadium is set for noon CT.
