On Sunday, two friends and former teammates will have a chance to reunite with each other when the Houston Texans travel to Charlotte, North Carolina, to take on the Carolina Panthers, except this time, the rules will be different as they won’t be in the battle together, they will be battling each other.
Rookie Panthers quarterback Bryce Young, who was the No.1 overall selection by Carolina and the third overall pick in the same draft, and rookie edge rusher Will Anderson Jr. will compete against one another for the first time in different uniforms.
“Me and Bryce used to always talk smack in practice,” said Anderson. “It was all fun and games. The last two years we were there [Alabama], we got really close. I have nothing but respect for Bryce; that is family. To have a guy like that in your corner, both rookies, first-round [draft picks], starting, it can be a lot of pressure sometimes, so we just check in on each other, making sure we are both good.”
Young, the former Heisman Trophy winner, commented similarly when asked about Anderson.
“That is someone I am super close with, someone I consider a brother,” said Young at his weekly press conference about Anderson. “We came to Alabama at the same time. We both grew there; both grew together. He is someone who is super hard working, someone who always wants to do the little things right. Strives to be the best and holds everyone else accountable, a great leader.”
I asked Texans edge rusher and former Alabama player Will Anderson about some practice stories of his former teammate Bryce Young from the Carolina Panthers:
“Me and Bryce used to always talk smack to each other in practice.” #Texans #Sarge @TheTexansWire @Panthers @KeepBlitzin… pic.twitter.com/hvgJFw52XD— #SARGE (@BigSargeSportz) October 27, 2023
Young and Anderson loved the competitive back-and-forth they had at numerous practices, which would usually lead to Anderson getting chewed out by the offensive side of the ball for using his instinct to sack the quarterback, a skill he excelled at in college. Anderson won back-to-back Bronko Nagurski trophies as the nation’s top defensive player and led the SEC in sacks (10).
“It was always Will and Bryce,” said Texans rookie linebacker Henry To’o To’o, who also played for Alabama last season, about the minor skirmishes that would ensue in first-team offense and defense drills. “Will would get his butt chewed out, ‘Stop touching the quarterback, get away.’ We used to push the running backs into Bryce since we could not touch him. There were some good times in practice; we had some competitive practices.”
This time around, Anderson’s primary focus will be to make life as difficult as it can be on the football field by pressuring Young and hopefully adding some sacks on him to help the Texans (3-3) get above .500 in the win column since 2019. According to Pro Football Focus, Anderson has graded out at 80.3 amongst all defensive ends throughout his first six games.
Before the bye week, Anderson helped the Texans defeat the New Orleans Saints. He combined with defensive teammates Jonathan Greenard and Jerry Hughes to record the second-highest pressure rate (41.9%). Each player had seven pressures a piece.