Derek Stingley Jr., Calen Bullock
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Derek Stingley Jr. and Calen Bullock are two of the stars of the Houston Texans defense
There are a solid dozen teams in the NFL that could rightfully expect to be one of the league’s top defenses in 2025, but one of the non-negotiables — a team that needs to be near the top of any list — is the two-time defending AFC South champion Houston Texans.
Up and down the Texans roster you can find players who either have been or soon could be considered Pro Bowl caliber contributors. Led by three players included in the NFL’s Annual Top 100 list — Derek Stingley Jr. (#18), Danielle Hunter (#25), Will Anderson Jr. (#46) — Houston could end the 2025 season as the league’s best defense. But you don’t need to take my word for it.
According to the projections of ESPN’s Mike Clay, the Texans are expected to finish 7th in the NFL in total sacks, 3rd in interceptions — which will surely be considered a slap in the face to Stingley, who said back in July that he expects the Texans to lead the NFL in interceptions “by 10 to 15” — and 1st in total points allowed, topping the likes of the Denver Broncos and Pittsburgh with only 355 points allowed.
“Though the Texans ranked in the middle of the pack in points allowed last season, their defense finished top five in sacks (49) and forced turnovers (29),” writes Clay. “They were also first in pass rush win rate (48.7%). Thirteen of the unit’s top 14 players who got the most snaps return this season, including standout edge rushers Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson Jr., cornerbacks Derek Stingley Jr. and Kamari Lassiter, safety Jalen Pitre and linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair.”
Texans Defense Hitting Reset Even After Stellar 2024 Season
It would be convenient for the Houston Texans to look at the success of last season and enter the 2025 campaign with a sense of comfort, especially with, as Clay noted, 13 of their top 14 players returning from the 2024 squad. But head coach DeMeco Ryans — who played in 140 games over a 10 year career — and defensive coordinator Matt Burke aren’t going to let that happen.
“To me, every year I start over,” Ryans said in July, per ESPN’s DJ Bien-Aime. “So the previous two years, whatever that looks like, it doesn’t matter to me, because every year we have to reinvent ourselves. We have to create and mold and grow to see what the 2025 Texans will look like.”
Burke explained that the way he sees it, there are three words he won’t tolerate in the Texans locker room.
“I actually put this up in one of the meetings. The three most dangerous words in the vernacular, ‘I got it,'” Burke told ESPN. “We always like to start back at the fundamentals and the foundation and then build.”
Some rosters likely wouldn’t respond too well to this sort of start from scratch approach, especially after a fairly successful season just one year prior. But in Houston, there’s a hunger that extends from the coaching staff to every player who will play a snap on that side of the ball this year. Sure, guys like Derek Stingley Jr. are willing to voice lofty goals, but to reach those goals, it requires serious work.
Each of the last two seasons, Houston has only reached the Divisional Round of the Playoffs. AFC South banners are nice, but there’s a lot more to play for than that. Nobody is going to rest on their laurels when this franchise is still trying to make their first ever AFC Championship Game. But why stop at the AFC Championship Game when a Super Bowl title is just two wins further?
“That’s the only goal to be honest: to win a championship,” Kamari Lassiter told Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 Houston. “I feel like every guy in this locker room, player, coach, support staff, anybody, I feel that’s what were all working towards. And that’s why we put our best foot forward every day.”