When the NFL Network began unveiling their annual Top 100 list of the best players on the league, as voted on by the players, I figured we could see an unprecedented number of Texans on the list, with as many as nine players possibly cracking the Top 100. As it turns out, they will likely wind up with fewer than the six they had last season.
Last week, the league unveiled players 30 through 21 on the list. Up to that point, the only two Texans to show up on the list were linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair (92nd, his debut on the list) and wide receiver Nico Collins (58th, down from 32nd in 2025). We also got confirmation a week or so ago that C.J. Stroud indeed fell all the way out of the Top 100, when the league made public those who just missed. (Stroud, as it turns out, was 103rd overall. More on that in a moment.)
The good news is that two of the Texans’ constants on defense made the list, with Derek Stingley coming in at 25th overall (down from 18th in 2025) and Danielle Hunter coming in at 23rd (up from 25th in 2025). If you want to relive the magic of last season through the lens of each player, here were their tribute videos:
Okay, now that you’re gotten to watch those two exhilarating videos, here are a few thoughts on these two selections and what’s left on the Top 100 agenda:
Stingley and Hunter still have their “street cred” from last season
Both guys were in the Top 25 last season, both were again in the Top 25 this season, and both seem to have reached a status, given the overall dominance of the Texans’ defense, where if they are merely good, they’ll get treated in polls like these as if they were great. To be clear, both were great in 2025, but I know how these subjective things go — just don’t screw it up, and you’ll always get the benefit of the doubt, when you’re a star.
It would appear Will Anderson is the only remaining Texan to be named
Anderson was 46th in last season’s Top 100, and he undoubtedly took his game several notches higher in the 2025, good enough to finish runner up for the Defensive Player of the Year award, behind only Myles Garrett. The last time a Houston Texan finished in the Top 10 in this exercise was 2016, when J.J. Watt was number 3 overall. Anderson’s career is trending in a similar direction to Watt’s. I’d expect a finish somewhere between 15th and the lower portion of the Top 10.
We got confirmation last week that C.J. Stroud finished outside the Top 100
As mentioned earlier, the NFL confirmed that Stroud finished 103rd in this season’s Top 100, which is a precipitous tumble from 39th a year ago and 20th after his stellar rookie season. This is just the latest negative assessment for Stroud, who’s been taking body blows from every corner of the NFL evaluation universe this offseason — his peers, anonymous executives, fantasy football gurus. There are no shortage of chips that Stroud can place on his shoulder for the 2026 season.
