Touchdown passes measure quarterbacks, interceptions for defensive backs, and sacks are the rubric for edge rushers.
J.J. Watt set the bar for any future Houston Texans edge rusher. Try a 10-year tenure with five double-digit sack seasons, of which included four straight of 10-plus, and three NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards. As the franchise leader, any Texans defender will be chasing Watt’s 101.0 for a long time.
Watt, a future first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer, played with such passion and ferocity when it came to getting to the quarterback that he made most fans and analysis forget that the defensive end position has many more responsibilities. He also has made it harder for most people watching rookie edge rusher Will Anderson to recognize the impact he has made throughout his first seven games in the NFL.
Anderson, 22, is getting acclimated to playing in the NFL and has garnered much attention by opposing offenses. He consistently sees multiple players throughout the game to try and slow his pursuit of the quarterback at an alarming rate for a rookie. Teams have doubled the former two-time SEC Defensive Player of the Year award winner 24% of the time this season, which places him right behind Myles Garrett (30%), Micah Parsons (28%) and former Texans player Jadeveon Clowney (26%).
“Nobody wants to go up against that man in a game,” said Texans DE Jonathan Greenard about teammate Will Anderson Jr. “He is going to bring it every single play.” Greenard was responding to some who have criticized the rookie for his sack numbers this season. #Texans #Sarge pic.twitter.com/axy37AMI25
— #SARGE (@BigSargeSportz) November 3, 2023
“Will has been impactful,” said Texans first-year defensive coordinator Matt Burke, who coached Watt in Arizona in 2022. “I feel like I’ve said this a lot: I think he’s already, as a rookie, one of the best run defenders on the edge in the NFL. He’s powerful and violent. Sets edges about as good as a lot of people that I’ve seen in this league. He affects the quarterback right now. He’s close. I mean, his pressure rate is still really high, and I think his challenge is not getting frustrated by the sack production. You start chasing stats, it goes the wrong way.”
The Texans made a draft day trade with the Arizona Cardinals to acquire Anderson with the third overall selection in this year’s draft. There are a lot of expectations being drafted that high, and if you factor in the amount of future capital Houston gave up for him, many can see why the sack statistic can play a vital role in how he is evaluated.
Fourth-year veteran Jonathan Greenard, who starts opposite of Anderson, realizes that the sack totals do not jump off the page for the rookie but understands the impact he brings in the totality of the overall defensive scheme that head coach DeMeco Ryans has installed.
“If you see a guy getting chipped or they are running away from him or they are cutting him, he has already made the play right then,” said Greenard, who leads all edge defenders with 8.5% defensive stop rate this season, according to Next Gen Stats. “Now they have just dedicated half of that play to you because they knew you were going to be able to make that play, and now, they are playing behind the sticks.”
Anderson’s impact has been felt by opposing quarterbacks as he leads all rookie pass rushers with a 0.76 avg get-off time this season and has generated 26 QBP [Quarterback Pressures] on 186 pass rushes, which ranks him third amongst all rookies. He is also helping a run defense that finished last in the NFL in rushing yards allowed in 2022 at 170 yards per game, holding teams to under 100 yards throughout seven games this season.
“It all comes down to knowing who you are,” Anderson told the Texans Wire about the dynamics of his position. “You know what position you play, and you know that it is more than just going out there and getting sacks. We call it ‘Factor’ here. How are you factoring the game? Whether that is causing disruptions, getting pressure, or helping others around you.”
“Ultimately, it comes down to you doing your job. Don’t press for anything. Don’t go out there and do anything you have done differently all week, and don’t let the expectations of others or whoever may think that sacks is all there is push you to make you do something that you know you are not supposed to be doing.”
“When you hear ‘Edge Rusher,’ you think of sacks, but being an edge rusher is being an elite player all the way around. Stopping the run, getting tackles for loss, causing disruption, setting edges, and things like that. That is how I see myself when I see edge rusher.”
