As mentioned yesterday, the week leading up to Week 1 is a week of forecasting and prediction. For the last two days, I’ve given you forecasts and predictions that you can turn into good, old fashioned American currency, with my season win total and Texans season stat total bets. Today, these are just some general predictions about the season, although there are at least a couple cashable opportunities In here. Let’s go!
**4\. Will Anderson, Jr. wins Defensive Player of the Year**
And this is one of them! Currently, Anderson is sitting at number two on the odds board for Defensive Player of the Year, behind only Myles Garrett, who won it last season after breaking the single season record, garnering 23 sacks. I gave out “OVER 12 sacks” for Anderson as a best bet yesterday, and this prediction is an adjunct to that. Anderson is not just a sack artist. When he doesn’t get the QB on the ground, he’s still usually doing something disruptive. He is a beast defending the run. Finally, he loooks like the rare player who has taken a market setting contract and used as a reason to work even harder this offseason. For a 25 year old, he’s as close to a perfect player as exists in the NFL.
**3\. Tank Dell does not play in 2026**
This goes back to the article we published here on Monday, outlining Dell’s agreement to cut his pay in half for 2026, ostensibly in order to guarantee his income for the upcoming season. This felt like a version of an injury settlement. Everyone is rooting for Tank Dell. If you’re not rooting for him, I feel safe in saying that you’re probably a bad person. However, there is nothing about his rehab from this injury that feels like it’s safe to count on him to play a snap this season. A safer prediction is that the team determines halfway through the season that he’s just not as good an option as anyone on this year’s roster, and they give him a one year deal to try again next season.
**2\. The Texans land two rookies on the NFL All-Rookie team**
The Texans have largely drafted very well since Nick Caserio arrived in 2021. It’s a big reason why their roster is considered, top to bottom, one of the best in the NFL. This current rookie class looks like no exception, as they had seven of their eight draft picks make the roster, and three more undrafted free agent rookies make it, as well. First round picks Keylan Rutledge looks like a future captain and fixture for ten years at guard.
Of the other rookies on the team, the most impressive one was second round pick Marlin Klein, the tight end out of Michigan. There are several rookie tight ends around the league this season, but if Klein is able to get 30 to 35 catches (he looked like a legit pass catching threat in camp), and Rutledge is the best offensive lineman on a playoff team (Caserio called him “probably their best offensive lineman” last week), then both guys will get some run for All-Rookie status. I’m predicting it happens.
**1\. The Texans go 12-5 and make the AFC Title Game**
To be clear, I think the Texans have put together a stronger team this year than they had this time last year. In 2025, they rode a nine game winning streak to close out the season, and finished 12-5. I think they go 12-5 again this season, because the schedule is simply harder than last season. The seven games before the bye week include home games against the Bills, Bengals and Cowboys, and three road division games. The ten games after the bye week include four cold weather road games in December and January, including a trip to Philly on a short week on Christmas Eve and a Monday night game in Green Bay.
Going at least 5-2 before the bye week is a must. As for the postseason, I think 12-5 and wining the division will be enough to get the Texans a 2-seed, which means FINALLY they’ll play a home game in the divisional round. In their history, they’ve played seven games in the divisional round of the playoffs, all seven on the road, and they are 0-7. The Texans will come within a game of the Super Bowl, go on the road, and lose to Buffalo, who avenges their Week 1 loss to the Texans at Reliant Stadium.