Will Anderson Jr responds to Houston Texans moving him to new position
The Houston Texans essentially mortgaged their future away during the first round of last month's NFL Draft - to bring in what they hope will be the future of both their offense and defense.
On offense, they used the number two overall draft pick to select CJ Stroud after a stellar college career with Ohio State - winning the Rose Bowl in his first season as a starter before putting in a sensational performance in defeat as the Buckeyes lost 42-41 to national champions Georgia in the College Football Playoff semi-final.
That looked like it would be their statement pick, with them again having another selection at 12 overall - put the Texans shocked everyone as they made the move up from 12th to third in order to draft Will Anderson Jr - Alabama's star pass-rusher.
Seen as the best defensive player in the draft, Anderson Jr is highly unlikely to have been available at 12, with the Seattle Seahawks reportedly ready to select him with their pick at fifth overall. And so the Texans traded away their first-pick in next year's draft, as well as the 12th overall selection, a second and third round pick in this year's process to get Anderson Jr.
A pure pass-rusher, Anderson Jr racked up 34.5 sacks in 41 games for Alabama - being the defensive leader for the Crimson Tide while winning the SEC defensive player of the year two years in a row.
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With Alabama, he was deployed as an outside linebacker - having to be out in coverage as well as pass-rushing. However, the Texans have already made it clear that they will move him to a defensive lineman - where he can concentrate solely on what he does best in rushing the passer.
It will be a different role for Anderson Jr, who was seen as undersized to play the position at Bama but he claims to be fully prepared for the move.
Will Anderson Jr will move permanently from linebacker to defensive endSpeaking to NFL.com, Anderson Jr said: "Just being at Alabama they kind of prepared us for a little bit of everything, hand in the dirt, you know, playing in two-point stance, so it just kind of made me versatile.
"I'm very excited. However they want to use me, it's just going to be anything I've kind of did at Alabama, so I'm super excited. But just to do anything they need for the team."
New head coach DeMeco Ryans does not see it as a huge transition - as they look to get the best out of the talented pass-rusher.
He said: "It's not a huge position change for Will. Will will be an edge defender for us, and that's what he did at Alabama. Mostly at Alabama he was standing up; we'll have him down in a three-point stance. It's not a big-time position change for him. We won't have him playing over the guard like he did some there later in his career."
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