How Texans' Will Anderson Jr. Benefits From the Myles Garrett Trade

The NFL world was shaken up with a gigantic blockbuster trade on Monday: Myles Garrett is headed to the Los Angeles Rams.

It's a seismic shift across the NFL landscape as the reigning Defensive Player of the Year now heads to the Super Bowl favorites over in the NFC. If it wasn't already going to be tough to take down the Rams before acquiring Garrett, that task now increases exponentially.

🚨 🚨 🚨

Bombshell: The #Browns are finalizing a trade of Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett to the #Rams in a shocker, sources tell me, @TomPelissero & @AdamSchefter.

Cleveland would send Garrett to LA in exchange for star edge Jared Verse, a first-rounder, and more. pic.twitter.com/sQkTsV7QLD
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) June 1, 2026

However, there's one player who's not directly involved in the move––or even on either the Rams or the Cleveland Browns' roster––who tends to benefit pretty well from the Garrett swap over to LA: that's Houston Texans' All-Pro edge rusher Will Anderson Jr., even if it may not appear that way on the surface.

Reason being, he might have an even better shot to claim the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year award next year now that the favorite for those honors heads over to a Super Bowl-ready Rams defensive front.

Could Will Anderson Have an Inside Track for DPOY?

In terms of what the betting odds say, Anderson isn't exactly the favorite to claim the award over Garrett just yet. DraftKings Sportsbook has Garrett as the frontrunner at +450, while the Texans' edge rusher finds himself tied for second at +800.

But when taking a step back to see the setup of how that award race could eventually shake out, Anderson certainly has a strong chance to not only put up as good of numbers as Garrett will in his new situation, while also being a part of a stout, potentially league-best defensive unit in the process.

Oct 20, 2025; Seattle, Washington, USA; Houston Texans defensive end Will Anderson Jr. (51) celebrates a fumble recovery in the end zone for a touchdown during the third quarter against the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Ng-Imagn Images | Kevin Ng-Imagn Images

When looking at Garrett's reps with the Browns from last season, he was playing a lot of snaps from what he had seen throughout his past several years in Cleveland. His 82% defensive snap share (868 total snaps across 17 games) is the highest he's seen since his second year pro in 2018.

Simply put, the Browns were putting some significant miles on their top-edge talent to rally for those DPOY honors, and perhaps more importantly, the NFL sack record at 23.0 total sacks on the year.

Now with his new situation in LA, it feels pretty unlikely that the Rams will be eager to keep their newest star acquisition on the field for as long and as broadly as he was in 2025.

He's entering his age-31 season, just left the Rams to give up one of their best young pieces in Jared Verse along with three valuable draft picks, and that roster will be gunning for another Super Bowl with whatever it takes––even if that means playing Garrett a bit more conservatively in the regular season.

For reference, Verse on the Rams only played in 76% of the team's total defensive snaps last year. It's certainly not apples to apples; Garrett is a totally different talent than Verse. But it gives some perspective of how their usage could be sorted out in terms of their regular season workload.

Now look at the Texans and Will Anderson.

He only played 67% of Houston's defensive snaps last year. But he's younger, feels primed to improve from his 12.0-sack number in his third-year pro, and doesn't have quite the same depth infrastructure as the Rams do on their defensive front, which could lead to a few more reps coming his way.

That naturally gives him a solid route to really impactful production. Pair that with how strong the Texans' defense should be as a whole, and his case for end-of-season honors only heightens––even if he is alongside Danielle Hunter on the same defensive line.

Nov 16, 2025; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Houston Texans defensive end Will Anderson Jr. (51) celebrates with defensive end Danielle Hunter (55) after his sack of Tennessee Titans quarterback Cameron Ward (1) during the second half at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images | Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

Statistically, Anderson should be trending up. Garrett, for as impressive numbers as he had last year, might not reach that same peak in 2026 in a new situation, albeit while coming in as a game-changing addition to their overall defensive firepower.

With those two factors working with one another, that leaves the Texans' edge rusher with a slightly better chance to be named the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year.

At the very least, Garrett getting out of Cleveland, and with it, the AFC, now cements Anderson as the clear best edge talent within the conference.

Maybe he can add to that resume with some hardware by the end of next year, but time will tell how much the Rams will really roll out their new prized possession upfront.

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