Baker Mayfield Commends Texans’ Will Anderson, Danielle Hunter

A major strength of this Houston Texans' roster for the 2025 NFL season rolling over from last year is that of their dominant pass rushing duo on the defensive end in Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter.

Anderson and Hunter are in only their second season on the same defensive front, but the Texans duo has already put the league on notice following a dominant first year pairing. Last season, Houston was one of three teams having two players with 10+ sacks in a single season, and with another year to build even more chemistry, the sky is the limit for what this Texans pass rush has to offer in 2025.

So with that pass-rushing prowess in mind, it's clear the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' offense, and more importantly, quarterback Baker Mayfield, will be game planning extensively for both heading into Monday night's Week 2 game in Houston.

"Any time you play a team like this who have two bona fide studs on the edge, you game plan for them," Mayfield said of the Texans' edge rushing duo. "You understand that the protection on some things, when you're trying to push the ball down the field, you're going to need extra guys in there... You know where [Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter] at at all times, you know when they're on the field and off the field. You pay attention to that."

It'll be the first time the Bucs and Mayfield come over from the NFC to face off against this Texans pairing since the duo was formed last offseason, but it won't be his first meeting against a DeMeco Ryans-led group in Houston.

The last time Mayfield and the Bucs faced the Texans came during each of C.J. Stroud and Will Anderson Jr.'s rookie season, a game that ended in favor of Houston, 39-37, and one where Stroud showed out with an eye-popping 470 yards and five touchdowns on the day for what might be the best game of the Houston quarterback's career.

But even with that offensive-centric display from last meeting, Mayfield is well aware of what this Texans defense could hold with Ryans at the helm: an energetic unit with a swarming mentality that could make things challenging for this Bucs attack.

"Just as a whole, their whole defense plays extremely hard. DeMeco [Ryans] being the guy he is, he coaches them really hard, because he played that way too. It just jumps on the tape, and they have good players at every level."