In three seasons at Alabama, Will Anderson Jr. recorded 34.5 sacks and 58.5 tackles for loss as he became the third player in SEC history to become a unanimous All-American at least twice.

Anderson is preparing for his first NFL season with the Houston Texans, who selected the Crimson Tide star with the third pick in the NFL Draft on April 27.

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The Texans’ all-time leader for sacks and tackles for loss is J.J. Watt. He recorded 101 sacks and 172 tackles for loss in 10 seasons with Houston.

Watt said he’s looking forward to seeing what Anderson can do in Houston.

“I think Will is obviously a phenomenal player,” Watt said on Monday. “I’m very excited to watch him grow, to watch him develop and to see what (defensive coordinator Matt) Burke does with him in that defense, (head coach) DeMeco (Ryans’) defense, the attack mindset. …

“He’s a freak athlete. He’s already great at getting to the quarterback, and so I’m excited to just watch him develop and grow and, hopefully, get down there and speak with him a bit as well at some point. For me as a pass-rusher, I’m very excited to watch Will.”

Watt retired after the 2022 NFL season. He spent his final two NFL seasons with the Arizona Cardinals but has reconnected with the Texans, who will enshrine Watt in the team’s Ring of Honor on Oct. 1 during a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Houston hired Ryans as its head coach in January. When Watts joined the Texans as the 11th selection in the 2011 NFL Draft, the former Alabama All-American was Houston’s middle linebacker.

“I could not say enough words about DeMeco Ryans,” Watt said, “about who he is as a person, about who he was as a captain for us, as a teammate and now who he’s going to be as a head coach.”

After taking Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud with the second pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, the Texans traded with the Cardinals to obtain the No. 3 choice, allowing them to add Anderson, too.

During Watts’ time with the Texans, Houston won the AFC South title six times. But in his final season with the team, the Texans posted a 4-12 record, and they’ve won only seven games combined in the two seasons since.

But Watt envisions a turnaround ahead for Houston based on their offseason additions.

“I think Houston’s in an incredibly exciting position right now,” Watt said, “and I think if you’ve looked at everything that’s transpired this offseason in particular, it really signifies the direction and the plans of where this organization wants to go and where it can go. You hired DeMeco Ryans, who obviously in my opinion is an absolute home-run hire in terms of his knowledge, his wisdom, his energy, his experience and then also being a legend, being a Houston legend, who he is and what he brings from a leadership standpoint. And then you go out in the draft, and you really show people that you’re serious and you’re trying to make incredible moves right now to make this thing go for the next however many years with C.J. and Will.

“I feel like things are in a really good place right now, and I think there’s an exciting future. I think there’s absolutely going to be some adversity along the way. It’s not going to be a smooth, easy transition. But I think if you give DeMeco the proper time, you give him the proper leeway to do what he needs to do to build this thing the right way over time, and I think in a few years we’re going to look back at this offseason and say this was a really, really good one for the Texans.”

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.