In the National Football League, franchises have very few truly transformative days. There are plenty of days that fans and media speculate COULD be transformative, but most of those fizzle out. Evaluating talent is a tough job. To that end, I think you could argue that there’s only been two truly transformative days, days that immediately swung the fortunes of the Houston Texans from dregs to contender, and that was the day they hired DeMeco Ryans and the first night of the NFL Draft in 2023.
The effect of the Ryans’ hire is obvious and self explanatory. The guy is a cultural tour de force. The effect of the first night of the 2023 draft has been profound, as well. That night, the Texans drafted C.J. Stroud second overall, and moments later, they moved up nine spots to draft Will Anderson, Jr.
While Stroud has had his ups and downs individually, the team’s 32-19 record since he was selected speaks to an overall positive performance. The trade to get Anderson, though, which was widely panned as an overpay on draft night, has been the catalyst for a sea change on the defensive side of the football. Anderson has improved every season, and in 2025, was runner up for Defensive Player of the Year. Moreover, his leadership vibe envelops the. building, in a great way.
In short, Will Anderson has become the face of the Texans franchise, and his peers know that, which is why, on Friday, Will Anderson was revealed as the 12th rated player in the NFL in the annual Top 100 ranking, as voted on by players:
Congratulations to Anderson on this accolade, as he rose up from 46th last year to damn near the top ten. Here are a few more thoughts on Anderson and the Top 100, in general:
Will Anderson is inside the velvet rope of the truly elite
Asa mentioned above, Anderson came close, but was unable to crack the glass ceiling of the Top 10 in this poll. If I know anything about Anderson, it’s that he will use this as fuel for what will undoubtedly be an even better season in 2026 than he had in 2025. The last time a Texans player finished in the Top 10 was over a decade ago when J.J. Watt finished third overall in 2016. If I had to handicap it, Anderson is easily the most likely Texan to accomplish that, although Derek Stingley (18th in 2025, 25th in 2026) has a shot, as well. The bottom line is that it’s just really fun having a team with multiple players perched among the best in the sport.
Would you trade WIll Anderson for any of these guys?
In case you’re wondering, the top ten players will be revealed, one day at a time, starting today. It’s pretty easy to deduce who those players are, but thankfully, the league went ahead and did the work for us:
If you’re someone who feels Anderson was shortchanged by finishing outside the Top 10, then I’d ask “Which of the players on here would you swap out?” It’s tricky, because there’s no clear definition of the criteria for this poll. Is it the “most valuable” players? Is it the most productive? The most talented? The best answer “Yes, to all of those.” It’s what makes it a fun “bar debate,” the fact that there really are no guidelines or definition for what exactly these players are “Top” at. With that as the very broad backdrop, I’d have Anderson in the top 10 ahead of both running backs (Gibbs, Robinson), Puka Nacua, and Patrick Surtain.
This closes the book on the Houston Texans and the Top 100 for 2026
So now that the entire roster of players in the Top 100 has been revealed, we know that the Texans finished with five players in the rankings — Azeez Al-Shamir (92nd), Nico Collins (58th), Stingley (25th), Danielle Hunter (23rd), and Anderson (12th), Oddly enough, that’s fewer players than the Texans had ranked a year ago, when Joe Mixon (58th in 2025) and C.J. Stroud (39th in 2025) both made the list, and they did not this time around. Hell, Mixon didn’t play last season, and his career appears to be over.
As for next summer, I fully expect, if healthy, Anderson, Stingley, Hunter, and Collins to make it again. Al-Shaair, if he makes the Pro Bowl from an elite defense again, should climb the list. Texans to watch for their Top 100 debuts next year would be Kamari Lassiter, Caleb Bullock, and Jalen Pitre. Of course, the biggest development for the Texans, and a sign that it will have been a very good season in 2026, would be Stroud returning to the list, preferably in the upper half, where he was his first two seasons.
