The Houston Texans are rapidly becooming one of the more talented teams in the National Football League. That’s not a hot take, or even a debate topic. Two years in a row they’ve found themselves among the last eight teams standing during the postseason. While there is certainly more work to be done, and more talent to acquire, the postseason power rankings of players across various outlets show how far the Texans have come.
To that end, the latest well-respected list was unveiled late this past week, as Pro Football Focus released their list of the Top 101 Players in the NFL. Pro Football Focus watches every player on every snap of every game during the season and grades each players on how well they perform their assignment. In other words, there is probably more “football watching” that goes into this list than any other player power ranking out there.
The list this season was topped by Ravens quarterback, and MVP runner up, Lamar Jackson, who was joined in the top five by his teammate, running back Derrick Henry (5th overall). The remainder of the top five was Cleveland (well, for now, Cleveland) defensive end Myles Garret at 2nd overall, Eagles left tackle Jordan Mailata at 3rd, and Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow at 4th.
Here are the five Texans who cracked the list, in ascending order:
83. LAREMY TUNSIL, LT
Texans fans may be confused and even a little irritated by this ranking, because all they can think about is Tunsil’s 17 penalties he committed this season, a vast majority of them false starts. However, the fact of the matter is that Tunsil is one of the best pass protectors in football, as displayed by his 88.6 pass blocking grade on PFF (6th overall). That said, I get the frustration, Texans fans.
68. DANIELLE HUNTER, DE
The Texans signed Hunter to a two year, $48 million deal in free agency this past offseason, and it could not have gone much better. Hunter played in all 17 games, scored an 84.6 PFF grade for the season (12th among edge defenders), and in the counting stats, he racked up an absurd 74 pressures along with 12 sacks, including the postseason.
51. WILL ANDERSON, Jr., DE
This is an ascension of a young player that’s been a whole lot of fun to watch, in no small part because Anderson is so likable, coachable, and eager to learn and achieve. In 2024, he climbed into the Top 10 in nearly every category, with an 81.1 run defense grade (6th among edge defenders), 17 percent pass rush win rate (10th), along with 11 sacks (10th).
43. DEREK STINGLEY, Jr., CB
As profound as Anderson’s rise in his second year was, Stingley was basically strapped to a rocket ship in his third season. After missing nearly half of each of his first two seasons with various injuries, Stingley played nearly every snap of every game, and he was elite, as his 47.0 passer rating allowed and 45.8 percent completion percentage allowed led the NFL.
25. NICO COLLINS, WR
It says a lot abut the season Collins had, and the player that he’s become, that he finished as the 25th best player in football, despite missing 5 games with a hamstring injury, and down the stretch, playing as the only real viable target on the team, with Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell done with knee injuries for the season. The postseason performance is included in thee rankings and that’s what allowed Collins to ascend this high on the list. After the Andre Johnson Era (2003-2014) and the DeAndre Hopkins Era (2013-2019), the Texans have found their next great receiver.
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