The Houston Texans may have lost edge rusher Jonathan Greenard in free agency, but they replaced him with a massive upgrade in Danielle Hunter, and fellow pass rusher Will Anderson is thrilled about it.
“I was jumping up and down, man, because I was so excited because now teams – they’ve got to choose who they’re going to double team. … It’s really exciting,” Anderson said, via Aaron Wilson of KPRC. “He’s a great guy. He loves football, man. I can’t wait to go out there and wreak havoc with him.”
Anderson is coming off of an impressive rookie campaign in which he played 15 games and registered 45 tackles and seven sacks en route to a Pro Bowl appearance and a Defensive Rookie of the Year award.
The 22-year-old, who played his collegiate football at the University of Alabama, was selected by the Texans with the third overall pick of the 2023 NFL Draft.
Meanwhile, Hunter is now entering his 10th professional season and just finished racking up a career-high 16.5 sacks to go along with 83 tackles and four forced fumbles during his final year with the Minnesota Vikings.
The LSU product was selected by the Vikings in the third round of the 2015 NFL Draft.
Hunter established himself as an elite pass rusher very quickly, as he registered 12.5 sacks as soon as his sophomore campaign.
In nine seasons with Minnesota overall, the 29-year-old made four trips to the Pro Bowl while recording four double-digit sack years. That included back-to-back campaigns with 14.5 sacks in 2018 and 2019.
The Texans totaled a respectable 46 sacks in 2023, but with a budding star in Anderson and the addition of Hunter, they could end up exceeding that number next season.
We’ll see what Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter can do in tandem in 2024.
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