Will Anderson was at the top of college football after the 2022 season.
The Alabama defensive end collected two Bronko Nagurski Trophies, the Chuck Bednarik Award, the Lott Trophy, two SEC Defensive Player of the Year honors, and was a two-time first-team All-American. It is no surprise Anderson went No. 3 overall to the Houston Texans — and that they traded up from No. 12 to take him.
While Anderson left the college ranks on top, he is starting at the bottom in the NFL, even with his lofty draft status with Houston.
Anderson clarified what makes the pro game different from the college game when meeting with reporters on May 13 during minicamp at Houston Methodist Training Center.
“With the NFL everything it’s more detailed,” Anderson said. “Like it’s a lot more sacrifices to make to understand and grasp everything the coaches are telling you to do, the playbook, everything like that.”
In college, there was also the structure of classes and eligibility obligations wherein football was compartmentalized. In the NFL, football is all Anderson has to do, which means the 21-year-old has to build his own structure on how to use his time efficiently.
“The difference from college to now is you have so much more free time, so you have to find a routine and get that routine and know what you’re going to do at this time, this time,” said Anderson. “Everything is just detail, you know what I’m saying?”
When Anderson is working on the game, the one aspect that proves challenging is the terminology.
Said Anderson: “The biggest thing is learning the language, the verbiage, and understanding what they want and just understanding that. So that’s just kind of been the biggest adjustment right now.”
Starting jobs aren’t handed out at minicamp as the weekend is spent getting rookies acclimated and ready to join the veterans for the team’s offseason workouts.
