Houston defensive end Will Anderson Jr. already was eagerly anticipating his second NFL season. Then the Texans’ signing of Danielle Hunter revved him up even more.

“I’m very excited,” Anderson told Aaron Wilson of KPRC-TV at a Big Brothers Big Sisters Gulf Coast charitable event. “He’s with our agency, Klutch. I got a chance to meet him at the Pro Bowl, have dinner with him, and then he was up here a few days ago and I got to talk to him then. I was just jumping up and down because I was so excited because now teams, they got to choose who they’re going to double-team, so it’s really exciting. He’s a great guy. He loves football. I can’t wait to learn from him and go out there and wreak havoc with him.”

Hunter confirmed Anderson’s level of excitement during his press conference after signing a two-year, $49 million contract with Houston.

“That kid right there, he’s exciting,” Hunter said. “He has a lot of tools. I was with him earlier, and he just can’t stop jumping, how eager he is to just go out there and rush the passer together. Very good kid. I’m excited just to be able to go out there and teach him a lot of things that I know and help him become a better player and, at the same time, learn a lot from him also.”

Anderson won The Associated Press NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award and the Pro Football Writers of America’s NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award for the 2023 season. After joining Houston as the third pick in the NFL Draft on April 27, the former Alabama All-American had 45 tackles, seven sacks, 10 tackles for loss and 22 quarterback hits in 15 regular-season games.

Houston lost defensive end Jonathan Greenard to the Minnesota Vikings in free agency after he recorded 12.5 sacks in 2023. But the Texans then signed Hunter after he recorded 16.5 sacks and led the NFL with 23 tackles for loss with the Vikings in 2023.

Greenard was among the 10 Houston players who signed with other teams in free agency. But the Texans have signed 12 players from other teams.

“I was very excited about it,” Anderson said about Houston’s offseason. “I think the pieces they got were perfect pieces to the puzzle — guys that’s hungry, guys that love football, guys that don’t really care about being celebrities or anything like that. They just want to go out there and ball for this city and ball for themselves and their families.”

Anderson helped the Texans win the AFC South with seven more victories in 2023 than they had in 2022. Houston defeated the Cleveland Browns 45-14 in the first round of the AFC playoffs before a 34-10 loss to the Baltimore Ravens ended the Texans’ season.

“I’m excited for Year 2, man,” Anderson said. “I think I’ve been so jittery because I just can’t wait to get back to it because of the growth that I started experiencing throughout the season, and I know what to expect now and just keep developing my game. And then I get to learn from all the new additions they added in the room. Super great vets, whole new room, so I’m really excited about that as well. …

“Nothing changes. It’s no time to be comfortable. It’s no time to be relaxed. Always on edge. And there’s so much more that we have to do as a team, to accomplish, so I’m very excited about that as well.”

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