By all accounts, Houston Texans edge rusher Will Anderson Jr. is one of the most humble and hardest working players in the National Football League. He's arguably the best player on the Texans roster and the embodiment, both on and off the field, of what you look for from a franchise cornerstone.
But for Geno Smith and the rest of the Las Vegas Raiders, the mere mention of Will Anderson Jr. is probably nightmare fuel this week. Images of Anderson bull-rushing or blazing past overmatched tackles are likely waking the journeyman quarterback and everyone on the Raiders offensive staff up out of a dead sleep with cold sweats and an uneasy feeling that no matter how they try to scheme things up this Sunday, the 3rd-year edge rusher will probably find a way to make an impact.
That's been the story all season long. No matter what opposing offenses try to do to offset the impact of Will Anderson Jr., the 24-year-old stud finds a way to thwart those plans, and it doesn't always come in the form of a sack.
Heading into Week 16, Anderson ranks 9th in the league in sacks with 10.5 -- his second consecutive season with double-digit sacks -- but Anderson is a far more impactful pass-rusher than those basic stats illustrate, especially on third down.
According to Anthony Holzman-Escareno, Senior Researcher at NFL.com, Anderson leads the NFL with 54 total disruptions (sacks plus QB hits plus pressures) on third down pace the NFL this season. In fact, Anderson's 42 quarterback pressures on third down are 11 more than the next closest player this season -- Defensive Player of the Year frontrunner Myles Garrett -- and just one pressure shy of tying the single-season Next Gen Stats record of 43 third down pressures, currently held by Myles Garrett (2024) and Maxx Crosby (2021).
This is one of the many reasons why the Texans have limited opponents to just a 33.9 percent third down conversion rate, the 3rd-best rate among all NFL defenses, trailing only the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks, who are presently the 1 seeds in the AFC and NFC respectively.
Against a Raiders offensive line that has had major issues keeping either Geno Smith or Kenny Pickett upright this season, and is particularly vulnerable at both tackle positions -- tackles Stone Forsythe (10) and DJ Glaze (8) have given up the most and 3rd-most sacks among all tackles in the NFL this season according to Pro Football Focus -- Will Anderson Jr. could be in store for one of the most dominant games of his young NFL career.