- Elite pass-rush production: Will Anderson Jr. developed of 18 pressures on 94 pass-rushing snaps, producing a 19.1% pressure rate through three weeks.
- Winning despite the overwhelming attention: Anderson owns a 22.0% pass-rush win rate despite being double-teamed on 41.5% of his pass-rushing snaps.
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Houston Texans edge defender Will Anderson Jr. is the current betting favorite to win the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year Award, and it doesn’t take much digging into tape and data to see why.
The Texans drafted Anderson with the third overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. He improved his overall PFF grade and PFF pass-rush grade in each of his first three NFL seasons, earning a 93.4 PFF grade and 92.8 PFF pass-rush grade in 2025. And his strong start to 2026 suggests he’s at least on track to maintain that level of play.
will anderson jr.: PFF grades and rankings since 2023
Pressure Rate
Anderson has accumulated 18 total pressures on 94 pass-rushing snaps through the first three weeks. With eight of those pressures coming in the form of sacks or quarterback hits, he also ranks within the top 10 in knockdown rate at 8.5%.
Edge defenders: maximum pressure rate in 2026
Pass-rush win rate
Anderson ranks in the top five at the position in PFF’s pass-rush win rate metric despite being double-teamed on 41.5% of his pass-rushing snaps. That’s the highest double-team rate among the five players listed.
Edge defenders: highest pass-rush win rates in 2026
Pass-rush grade
Anderson is also in the top five at the position in PFF pass-rush grade, despite having a higher double-team rate than every other player in this group. By using the scatter plot made in PFF Proyou can see he’s one of only four players in the upper right quadrant, combining a high PFF pass-rush grade with a high double-team rate.
However, Anderson isn’t just winning as a pass-rusher. He had a fantastic rep against the Colts this past week, ducking around a pulling blocker before quickly cutting to bring down the running back for a short gain.
Data backs it up too. Anderson leads edge defenders in PFF run-defense grade (91.1), run-stop percentage (15.5%) and positively graded play rate (34.5%). His 3.4% negative grade play rate is fifth best at the position.
Another scatter plot shows Anderson as an all-around threat at edge defender through the first three weeks of the 2026 season.
Will Anderson Jr. was already one of the NFL’s best pass-rushers entering this season, but his improvement as a run defender has made him one of the most dominant all-around players in football in his fourth season out of Alabama. That could mean the season ends with Anderson taking home some individual hardware.