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Tag: Will Anderson

  • Texans Defense Makes Buffalo See Red – Houston Press

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    The Houston Texans defense looked elite on Thursday Night Football during the game against the Buffalo Bills. The Texans sacked 2024 MVP Josh Allen eight times over the night. Cornerback Calen Bullock shone as he had a forced fumble and two interception. The Texans next play AFC South leaders Colts in Indianapolis on November 30. (Photos by Jack Gorman)

    This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2025.

    Jackson is a freelance photographer and writer covering a variety of music and sporting events in the Houston area. He has contributed to the Houston Press since 2013.

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  • Five Best Houston Texans at Quarter Season Mark, According to PFF – Houston Press

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    It was a rocky first quarter of the season for the Houston Texans, with an 0-3 start that gave us way too many opportunities to reminisce about the 2018 Houston Texans, and their 0-3 start that turned into a playoff berth, the only teams to accomplish that off an 0-3 start this century. 

    Indeed, that’s way too much Bill O’Brien in my life. Thankfully, the Texans were able to close out the quarter-season mark (well, four games out of seventeen, so close to quarter) with a win versus the Titans. That’s made the week more pleasant. We’ll see if they can take advantage of a wounded Ravens squad on Sunday. 

    For now, let’s recognize the big performers four games in, and we will use the very helpful, but sometimes controversial, Pro Football Focus player grades to do so. These are subjective grades from human scorekeepers who watch every player on every play. The five best Houston Texans may not match YOUR eye test, but the PFF scores certainly make for lively debate.

    Without further ado, here are the five best Texans, according to their relative player score at their position on PFF: 

    5. SHELDON RANKINS, Defensive tackle (#16 out of 120 interior defensive linemen)

    Rankins was a stalwart on the 2023 defensive line, and then left for Cincinnati in free agency for the 2024 season. Last season was a nightmare for Rankins, who suffered through multiple illnesses. Since returning to the Texans this season, Rankins has shown up big through four games, with a sack and 11 pressures. 

    4. WILL ANDERSON, Defensive end (#11 out of 116 defensive ends)

    Anderson and Hunter are the best defensive end duo in the league, and it’s not particularly close, with both ranking in the top 11 at the position. Anderson has himself near the top of the odds board for Defensive Player of the Year, with three sacks and a league-leading 25 QB pressures. Meanwhile….

    3. DANIELLE HUNTER, Defensive end (#8 out of 116 defensive ends)

    Hunter is right there with Anderson statistically, and slightly above him in the PFF grade category. Hunter just came off of his biggest game of the year, with two sacks against the Tennessee Titans. On the season, Hunter has four sacks and 18 QB pressures, good for 10th in the league. 

    2. TIM SETTLE, Defensive tackle (#8 out of 120 interior defensive linemen)

    Like Rankins, Settle is a leader in the defensive linemen room, and his impact doesn’t show up in the way of huge numbers. Instead, Settle takes up blockers, and allows the linebackers to make plays. Settle himself, though, had two big pass breakups in the Jaguars game, including one on a fourth quarter fourth down to keep the Texans’ hopes alive. 

    1. ED INGRAM, Guard (#1 out of 77 guards)

    Ingram is in his fourth season in the NFL, and his highest grade for a whole season on PFF was in 2023, when he had a mediocre 59.6 total grade. This season, Ingram’s pass blocking has been just so-so, but he’s been a tank in the running game, with a run blocking grade of over 90. This has been one of NIck Caserio’s best acquisitions this year. 

    This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2025.

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    Sean Pendergast

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  • Houston Texans Awful History After Winning Division Titles Playing Out Again in 2025

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    After starting up their NFL existence in 2002, it took the Houston Texans practically a decade to finally make the NFL’s postseason. In 2011, when the Houston Texans clinched the AFC South, with T.J. Yates, of all people, under center, the city was jubilant, knowing that we would be heading to the playoffs for the first time.

    Little did we know that 2011 division titles would touch off one of the strangest success (and lack thereof) patterns that I can recall in my five decades of watching sports. The Texans would repeat as division champs in 2012, and enter 2013 with high hopes. Instead, in 2013, they would bottom out and finish 2-14, worst in the league.

    They’d get their mojo back fairly quickly, though, winning division titles in 2015 and 2016. Unfortunately, 2017 would bring a 4-12 season, whose only redeeming quality was seven games of rookie phenom Deshaun Watson. The Texans would quickly rebound with AFC South titles in 2018 and 2019, but 2020 would bring three horrible things — COVID, Bill O’Brien as a GM, and a 4-12 Texans record.

    We all know what’s happened since then. The Texans bottomed out for two more years, stockpiling draft picks and severance payments for fired coaches. Eventually, DeMeco Ryans would get here, and another pair of division titles ensued. Now, we’re in that season following two division crowns, and it’s going the same way it’s gone the previous three times. The Texans are 0-3, and cannot score points. It’s bad.

    So, the question is, three games in, how does this compare to the first three times the Texans have chased multiple division crowns with seasonal abominations? Let’s take a look:

    2013 SEASON (Final record: 2-14)

    First three games (2-1 record)
    The Texans started this season with a last second field goal win over the Chargers in San Diego, followed by an overtime win at home against the Titans. In Week 3, they lost to the Ravens, 30-9, with Matt Schaub throwing a pick six for a second consecutive week, a streak that would reach four weeks eventually. So three games in, things seemed okay.

    When did the 2013 season go off the rails?
    Some would say once the team benched Schaub for Case Keenum in Week 7, but Case actually brought some hope. I’d say the season died in Week 9, when Gary Kubiak passed out from a stroke, on the field, just before halftime of a loss to the Colts.

    What was the response from ownership?
    Gary Kubiak was fired after a Week 11 debacle in Jacksonville. Matt Schaub was traded to the Raiders after the season. The Bill O’Brien Era was underway, on January 1, 2014.

    2017 SEASON (Final record: 4-12)

    First three games (1-2 record)
    The Texans opened the season with a 29-7 loss to the Jaguars, where the team’s energy level appeared to be zapped from dealing with Hurricane Harvey. Deshaun Watson was named the starting QB in Week 2, and engineered a 13-9 upset of the Bengals, and in Week 3, nearly knocked off the defending champion Patriots as a 13-point underdog in Foxboro. Despite a 1-2 record, excitement was brewing with the Watson Era underway.

    When did the 2017 season go off the rails?
    Even with a season ending injury to J.J. Watt in Week 5, the energy was still high from Watson’s performance through two months. However, a torn ACL suffered the day after the Astros won their first World Series took all the starch out of the season, and reminded us that Houston can never have nice things for very long.

    What was the response from ownership?
    Knowing that Watson’s recovery from the torn ACL would be enough to make the team relevant in 2018, the team stood pat with O’Brien, but GM Rick Smith did choose to leave the organization to attend to his wife, who was suffering from cancer.

    2020 SEASON (Final record: 4-12)

    First three games (0-3 record)
    This was the most obvious train wreck of the three teams outlined in this article. The day the schedule came out in May 2020, you knew O’Brien, who’d taken over as GM in addition to head coach at this point, was doomed. The Texans were blown out by the Chiefs and Ravens in the first two games, and lost by seven to the Steelers in Week 3.

    When did the 2020 season go off the rails?
    One week later, after losing to the Vikings at home, Bill O’Brien was fired, Romeo Crennel was made interim head coach, and Jack Easterby was made interim GM. Just a really dark time in Texans history.

    What was the response from ownership?
    After firing O’Brien, and rolling with Crennel and Easterby the rest of the season, the Texans hired Nick Caserio as the GM, which has worked out okay, and David Culley became the first of two one-and-done head coaches. Lovie Smith was the other.

    All of that led, eventually, to where we are today, with high hopes in 2023 and 2024, under the coaching eye of DeMeco Ryans. However, doubt is creeping into the fan base now on Ryans, and people are really questioning whether or not C.J. Stroud can be a franchise, game changing quarterback. While you might seem surprised, don’t be. Unfortunately, this is just what happens in Houston after two straight division titles. Misery.

    Listen to Sean Pendergast on SportsRadio 610 from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. weekdays. Also, follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/SeanTPendergast, on Instagram at instagram.com/sean.pendergast, and like him on Facebook at facebook.com/SeanTPendergast.

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  • Houston Texans Name Five Captains for Upcoming 2025 Season

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    Being named a captain in any sport is probably a big deal. I wouldn’t know personally, as I was never a good enough athlete to be in a varsity team, let alone be named a captain. However, it feels like a big deal, with your peers elevating your leadership chops above all others. When your head coach’s nickname, as a player, was “Cap,” like it was for DeMeco Ryans, it probably feels like an even bigger deal.

    With that said, the Texans named their third group of captains of the DeMeco Ryans Era on Wednesday afternoon — quarterback C.J. Stroud, defensive end Will Anderson, linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair, wide receiver Nico Collins, and running back Dare Ogunbowale. Here was the team’s official announcement on social media:

    Congratulations to all five guys! I have a few thoughts on this announcement:

    Put Stroud and Anderson in ink for the next decade
    This is exactly what the Texans had envisioned on draft night in 2023, when they made Stroud the second overall pick and then traded a king’s ransom to move up nine spots to snag Anderson with the third overall pick. These two young men were going to be the foundation, the cornerstones on either side of the football for the next 10 to 15 years. Both won Rookie of the Year for their respective sides of the football in 2023, and both are considered among the top 50 players in the NFL, by vote of their peers. Short of winning more playoff games, this could not be working out any better.

    I’m happy for Nico Collins
    Collins has quietly evolved into one of the top half dozen or so receivers in the NFL. He doesn’t say much, but he is, by all accounts, one of the hardest workers on the team, and often cited as an example of the Texans’ mantra where “if you do the work, you will be rewarded.” Collins’ three-year, $72 million contract extension kicks in this season, and right now the only thing standing between him and All Pro honors is staying healthy. In 2025, Collins went over the 1,000 yard mark despite missing five full games, and parts of two others.

    Dare Ogunbowale is (presumably) repping the special teams
    The Texans’ coaching staff and front office think very highly of Ogunbowale, who is heading into his ninth season in the league. He’s bounced around to a few different teams over the course of his career, but it’s wild to think that the first camp he was part of in the NFL was Bill O’Brien’s 2017 training camp at the Greenbrier. The captains typically have a representative for the third phase of the squad, special teams, and given that none of the other four guys play special teams (save Anderson being on the kick block unit), that’s probably the rationale behind Ogunbowale’s selection.  For the last decade or so, Jon Weeks would have been that pick. Speaking of which….

    I hope things turn out better for this round for captains than last season’s
    If you recall, last season, Weeks was one of seven captains named by the team:

    Sadly, the Texans moved on from Weeks, who is heading into his 17th season, after the 2024 season. He signed with the Niners, and we wish him the best. Of the captains from last year, though, Weeks’ ultimate fate is at least better than three of his cohorts. Laremy Tunsil was shipped off to Washington, with hopes that there would be a culture change in the Texans’ offensive line room. Seems strange that a captain would be a culture issue, but whatever. Stefan Diggs tore his ACL, and was spotted in the offseason dishing out some pink powder to some young ladies on a boat party. Finally, Jimmie Ward is still in Houston, but he is rehabbing a foot injury and sorting out an ugly legal situation with the mother of his three-year-old child. Thankfully, Anderson, Stroud, and Al-Shaair are drama free.

    Listen to Sean Pendergast on SportsRadio 610 from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. weekdays. Also, follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/SeanTPendergast, on Instagram at instagram.com/sean.pendergast, and like him on Facebook at facebook.com/SeanTPendergast.

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    Sean Pendergast

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  • Which Houston Texan Is Most Likely To Win an NFL Award in 2025?

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    One of the byproducts of having a capable NFL team for which to root is the numerous individual awards campaigns for the upcoming season. When your team stinks (like, say, the 2021 and 2022 Texans), there are no individual accolades coming for any of the players. When your team is good (like, say, this season’s Texans), then awards possibilities abound.

    It’s fun to root for your team to win the division, conference, or a Super Bowl, but it’s also fun to see your favorite players win individual hardware, like C.J. Stroud and Will Anderson winning the Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year awards, respectively, back in 2023.

    Now comes the individual hardware possibilities for 2025, and the Houston Texans are all over the odds board with six different players in four different categories. So let’s talk some gambling hypotheticals — if I had $100 to wager on these categories, here is the order in which I’d wager, based on betting value:

    DeMECO RYANS – Coach of the Year, +2500
    Don’t get me wrong, I think DeMeco Ryans is one of the best coaches in the NFL, but the formula for winning the Coach of the Year Award typically entails one of two routes — either you’re a first year head coach whose team overachieves, a formula that almost won Ryans the award in 2023, or you’re the head coach of one of the top two or three teams in the NFL. I like the Texans in 2025, but I wouldn’t; vet on them going 14-3 or something like that.

    NICO COLLINS – Offensive Player of the Year, +1800
    Nico Collins was on pace for an historical season early last year, before pulling his hamstring in Week 5. He was headed for an 1,800 yard receiving year. Hell, his first play back from injury, he took a 77 yard screen to the house, but it was called back on a penalty by Laremy Tunsil. I tink Collins can contend for this award, but his injury history hurts the cause. He’s missed at least a few games each season, and I can’t take that chance on it happening again in 2025.

    CJ STROUD – Most Valuable Player, +2500
    This time a year ago, Stroud was among the too four candidates for the MVP award, but we know how 2024 went for Stroud. He was good, but not great, and got no help from his offensive line. That’s the big question — can Stroud’s offensive line play well enough and protect him well enough to contend for the MVP award. I think they can, but not to the degree where I’d take Stroud for MVP over any of the Texans’  Defensive Player of the Year candidates.

    DEREK STINGLEY – Defensive Player of the Year, +6000
    It’s hard for a cornerback to win the Defensive Player of the Year award without a slew of interceptions. Stingley has garnered five picks in each of the last two seasons, but if I had to guess, defenses are going to avoid throwing his way this season. Stingley might be better than he was last season, but with fewer picks. That’s a formula for having the best Pro Football Focus score for a cornerback, but not a formula for wining Defensive Player of the Year. Still, at 60 to 1, I’d throw my $100 down on Stingley before the others preceding him here.

    DANIELLE HUNTER – Defensive Player of the Year, +8000
    I don’t love Hunter’s chances at this award, as he always seems to be fighting against a system that underrates him, but at 80 to 1, if he has a 17 sack season, or something like that, and the Texans are the one or two seed in the AFC, Hunter could make a great case.

    WILL ANDERSON – Defensive Player of the Year, +1200
    I love Will Anderson, and I love his chances of making another big leap in this third season, similar to what he did in his second season. I’ve never covered a player more hyper focused on improvement in the offseason, and I’ve never covered a player who can identify so specifically the things he needs to do to improve. Anderson is going to have a monster year. For purposes of this exercise, the safest pick (by the odds) is the best pick.

    Listen to Sean Pendergast on SportsRadio 610 from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. weekdays. Also, follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/SeanTPendergast, on Instagram at instagram.com/sean.pendergast, and like him on Facebook at facebook.com/SeanTPendergast.

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  • Six Houston Texans Land in NFL Top 100 Players

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    For the Houston Texans, the 2025 NFL season will begin on Sunday, September 7 in Los Angeles against the Rams. Around the league, most experts are fairly certain of a few things regarding the Texans — they should be clear favorites to win the AFC South, the offensive line can’t be worse than it was in 2024, and DeMeco Ryans is one of the bright, young coaching stars.

    Where the Texans fit into the fabric of Super Bowl contenders, though, is very much up for debate. On most odds boards, they sit somewhere between 10th and 15th to win the whole shebang. However, if upper level, core talent on the roster is a deciding factor, the Texans should perhaps be higher up the list.

    To wit, if we believe NFL players to be greater experts as to what constitutes “good at football” than non-players in the media, then the NFL’s Top 100 Players ranking, which is determined by votes of around 1,000 players, is great news for the Texans.

    As it turns out, according to this year’s poll, the Texans have six of the top 58 players in football, with Derek Stingley, Jr. being the sixth and final Houston Texan revealed this week at number 18. If I’m correct on forecasting who the remaining players are on the countdown to be unveiled between now and next week, this means the Texans will end up with the second most players (6) in the top 58 spots, behind only the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles (7).

    Let’s look at the six Texans in this ranking, and forecast whether they will each live up to their ranking this coming season:

    58. JOE MIXON, RB
    I was mildly surprised that Mixon showed up in the Top 100 at all, let alone as high as 58th. It’s not that Mixon wasn’t a key cog for the Texans last season, but I just never watched him and thought “Wow, there’s only 57 guys on earth better than Joe Mixon.” As for the upcoming season, Mixon’s early season injury is going to make it awfully tough for him to replicate his 2024 numbers, both due to rust and the sheer math of missing games. I’d predict a fall out of the Top 100 for Mixon next year.

    46. WILL ANDERSON, Jr., EDGE
    Anderson has made the Pro Bowl in both of his NFL seasons thus far, and if camp is any indication, Anderson is primed for a big leap this season. I think Anderson is a prime candidate for Defensive Player of the Year this season, and I think, if healthy, it’s a lock he ascends into the Top 25 players in football in next year’s rankings.

    39. C.J. STROUD, QB
    Stroud entered the rankings last year at a practically unprecedented 20th coming off his historic rookie season. Statistically, as well know, Stroud backslid in 2024. However, the fact that he only dropped to 39th overall shows me that his peers see Bobby Slowik and the 2024 offensive line as the culprits in that regression. That said, I have no idea which direction Stroud’s ranking goes this coming season. If he descends, it means that the line was probably still an issue, but if returns to the Top 20, the Texans might have gone to the Super Bowl.

    32. NICO COLLINS, WR
    Collins makes his flirrst appearance in these rankings at 32nd overall, and that’s having missed five full games and most of two others. Collins only played ten full games in 2024, and still finished with over 1,000 yards receiving. When he hurt himself in Week 5, he was on his way to the greatest receiving season in Texans history, which is saying something for a franchise who employed Andre Johnson and DeAndre Hopkins. I think Collins ranking is attached at the hip to Stroud’s, and could go either way a year from now.

    25. DANIELLE HUNTER, EDGE
    Hunter has been everything the Texans couple have asked for when they signed him in free agency before the 2024 season, having finished with a dozen sacks, and as you can see in the video above, numerous plays where the person he is tackling looks like they might not get up. Hunter has been fantastic. He is also getting older, but shows no signs of slowing down. I could see Hunter and Anderson flip flopping spots in next year’s ranking, with Hunter sliding into the 40’s and Anderson rising into the 20’s.

    18. DEREK STINGLEY, Jr.
    Stingley’s living up to his status as third overall pick in the 2022 draft has been, aside from Stroud’s establishing himself as a franchise QB, the most important development for this roster, and thus, the Texans’ return to relevance (and hopefully, this season, return to prominence). If healthy, Stingley might be establishing a permanent home among the top 20 players in the sport. He is that good.

    Listen to Sean Pendergast on SportsRadio 610 from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. weekdays. Also, follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/SeanTPendergast, on Instagram at instagram.com/sean.pendergast, and like him on Facebook at facebook.com/SeanTPendergast.

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  • Will Anderson Named AFC Defensive Player fo the Month for October

    Will Anderson Named AFC Defensive Player fo the Month for October

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    With every passing week of the 2024 NFL season, it becomes more and more clear — the future cornerstones for the Houston Texans over the next decade are C.J. Stroud on offense and Will Anderson on defense. This is precisely the way the Texans drew it up on draft night 2023, when they selected Stroud with the second overall pick and traded up for Anderson at the third overall pick.

    Accolades continue to roll in for both, further validating the Texans plan. The latest? Will Anderson, Jr. was named the AFC’s Defensive Player of the Month for October 2024:

    Anderson was a monster all month long, as he led the team to a 3-1 record and a multiple game lead in the AFC South race. It’s the team’s best start since 2012. For the month, Anderson notched 17 tackles, including an NFL-high seven tackles for loss, five sacks, one pass defensed that resulted in an interception by Eric Murray, and one fumble recovery that sealed a 23-20 win over the Colts in Week 8.

    Anderson recorded at least one sack in the last three contests for the month of October, showing a consistency that is indicative of an ascending player in his second season. The best week in October for Anderson was a Week 6 performance against the Patriots that featured the following stat line: four tackles for loss, three sacks and a pass defensed. For that performance, Anderson was honored as AFC Defensive Player of the Week for the first time in his career.

    For the Texans, it’s their first Defensive Player of the Month honor since J.J. Watt won it in September of 2018, coming off of a broken leg the year before. Anderson is the sixth player to win monthly defensive honors in team history, joining Marcus Coleman, Connor Barwin, Whitney Mercilus, Quintin Demps, all wining it once, along with Watt, who won it six times in his Texans career.

    LIST OF TEXANS AFC PLAYER OF THE MONTH AWARD WINNERS

    Will Anderson Jr., Defensive, October 2024
    C.J. Stroud, Offensive, November, 2023
    Deshaun Watson, Offensive, October 2019
    Ka’imi Fairbairn, Special Teams, December 2018
    J.J. Watt, Defensive, September 2018
    Deshaun Watson, Offensive, October 2017
    Quintin Demps, Defensive, December 2016
    Whitney Mercilus, Defensive, December 2015
    J.J. Watt, Defensive, November 2015
    J.J. Watt, Defensive, December 2014
    J.J. Watt, Defensive, September 2014
    J.J. Watt, Defensive, December 2012
    Andre Johnson, Offensive, November 2012
    J.J. Watt, Defensive, September 2012
    Connor Barwin, Defensive, November 2011
    Arian Foster, Offensive, October 2011
    Arian Foster, Offensive, September 2010
    Andre Johnson, Offensive, October 2008
    Marcus Coleman, Defensive, September 2003
    Chad Stanley, Special Teams, September 2002

    Listen to Sean Pendergast on SportsRadio 610 from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. weekdays. Also, follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/SeanTPendergast, on Instagram at instagram.com/sean.pendergast, and like him on Facebook at facebook.com/SeanTPendergast.

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