Texans' Defense Has Sky-High Expectations

Throughout the most recent NFL offseason, the Houston Texans have made an effort to rework their offensive side of the ball in a big way to help best support quarterback C.J. Stroud for what will be his third year starting at the helm.

However, when it comes to the outlook of this Texans defense, the setup looks to be pretty similar to the dominant form we saw them in across last season, if not, even better than the last time this unit was on the field.

The top-tier edge rushing duo of Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter is back for year two of their pairing, Derek Stingley Jr. is back on the boundary as one of the best cornerbacks in the entire world, and this safety unit (while currently a pretty beaten up one) can emerge as one of the top groups in the NFL with their combination of youth and veteran talent.

Combine all of those factors together, and there might just be some lofty expectations for the Texans to not just furnish a great defense, but perhaps the best in the entire NFL.

The Athletic's Derrik Klassen recently broke down what the landscape of this Texans' defense could be for the 2025 NFL season, where he sees Houston ultimately repeating as at least a top-five unit at year's end.

"The defense might be the best in the league. They were already one of the best in the league last year. They’ve got two Ferraris off the edge in Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson Jr. They’re the best 1-2 punch off the edge, I think, in the entire NFL right now. They were both top eight in pressure rate. Will Anderson Jr. is still an ascending young player who is only getting stronger. He’s only getting more comfortable with the way that he wants to play.

"So if those two guys continue to be the second- and sixth-best edge defenders in the league, respectively, on top of having Derek Stingley, on top of the rest of the DB room looking good, there’s no reason for me to believe that this is not going to be a top-five defense again."