The Houston Texans made a major statement on the defensive side of the ball during their 2024 season in becoming one of the best forces both in their front seven, as well as their secondary with an assortment of star talent all across the entire unit.
And now, for their 2025 campaign on the horizon, that trend could very well continue, and a lot of it starts with the Texans' duo of Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson Jr. as perhaps one of the best pass-rushing duos within the entire NFL–– a relatively new pairing in the mix of the league's top edge tandems, but one's that's already gotten some significant praise in being the best of their class.
The latest to give some considerable praise to Anderson and Hunter on this Texans defense comes from Bleacher Report's Stephen Holder, who ranked the Houston's star edge rusher duo as the second-best in the entire NFL.
"This duo has only worked together for one season, but they made one hell of an impact together last year," Holder said. "Hunter finished tied for fifth in the NFL with 12 sacks while Anderson was tied for 10th with 11, making the Houston Texans one of two teams to have two players finish in the top 10 for sacks."
"But what makes these two even more special is that they're both consistently in the quarterback's face," said Holder. "According to Pro Football Focus, the nine-year veteran ranked seventh among edge-rushers with 66 pressures during the 2024 regular season, while the second-year pro wasn't far behind him, finishing 25th with 51. That's a big reason both finished with a top 25 PFF pass-rush grade: 80.7 and 14th for Hunter, 75.9 and 24th for Anderson."
"Unsurprisingly, those two have played a big factor in the Houston Texans' defensive turnaround over the last two years," Holder wrote. "Mix that in with Denico Autry (62 career sacks in 11 seasons) and Sheldon Rankins (30.5 sacks in nine seasons) off the bench, and Houston's defense has a chance to be one of the best in the league this season."
In front of the Texans ranked only one pair of names, that being the Denver Broncos' Nik Bonnito and Jonathon Cooper.
It makes a ton of sense to see the Texans ranked so highly, as it was the two's pass rushing prowess and consistent sacks that led to a ton of their defensive success in 2024, leading to Houston ranking fifth in the league for total sacks last season at 49. Of course, sacks aren't the only defining metric of having an elite pass rush, but it's certainly a good sign of one.
As a result of their strong season in the trenches, it's part of why Houston made sure to give their veteran in Hunter a big-time pay day this summer with a one-year $35 million extension, which, if anything, shows the front office's confidence in his ability to produce once again in 2025.
Perhaps with another step from Anderson Jr. during his third year on this defense, and a sustained level from Hunter as one of the best talents at the position, then this Texans duo could make the necessary strides to overtake Denver with the best in the business next season.
