As the 2026 offseason rolls on, and as we prepare for the NFL Scouting Combine next week and free agency in a little over two weeks, the accolades continue to roll in for the Houston Texans’ high performers from 2025. Despite the sports-tragic end to the team’s playoff run, these accolades are reminders that it’s still a pretty good time to be a Houston Texans fan.
The latest honors came with the reveal of the Pro Football Focus 101, which is essentially PFF’s ranking of the top 101 players in the NFL, according to their very detailed and somewhat polarizing individual player scoring system, that literally grades what every player does on every play of the season. Five Texans landed on this list. In fact, all five were among the top 55 players, according to this ranking.
Here are the five Houston Texans who made the list:
5. Will Anderson, Jr., EDGE
26. Danielle Hunter, EDGE
35. Jalen Pitre, S
50. Nico Collins, WR
55. Kamari Lassiter, CB
Indeed, much like the Pro Bowl, where the Texans had five defensive players participating plus Nico Collins, this collection of players is heavily lopsided toward the Texans’ defense, rightfully so. The defense was incredible this season. However, this is a reminder that, to take the next step, the Texans will need more than just Nico Collins performing offensively at a PFF 101 level.
A few more thoughts on these rankings:
Holy cow, Will Anderson is gonna be so rich!
When the Texans traded up for Anderson back in the 2023 draft, most of the experts thought the Texans overpaid the Cardinals for the third overall pick. Those people, thus far, could not have been more wrong. Anderson has been a culture changer from the moment he set foot in the building, and now his game has caught up to his leadership chops. PFF is saying there are only four better players in the sport than Anderson. He is approaching J.J. Watt territory, and just in time to get a contract extension next month.
Good Lord, PFF sure does hate Derek Stingley, Jr.
Let’s talk about the Texan snubs here, and the biggest one, of course, is Stingley, who was voted first team All Pro, but somehow, according to PFF, is not one of the top 101 players in the sport. In fact, they rated him the 42nd best cornerback in the NFL. FORTY SECOND! Equally infuriating, PFF rates Sauce Gardner, who hardly played once he was traded to the Colts at midseason, as the 31st best player in the NFL. Of course, Stingley and Gardner were drafted back to back in the 2022 draft. Other Texans with an argument for inclusion on this list would be safety Calen Bullock and perhaps defensive tackle Tommy Togiai.
C.J. Stroud should add this to his motivational bulletin board (if he has one)
Stroud doesn’t have a strong history with the PFF 101. He snuck onto the list at number 100 after his stellar rookie season in 2023, and then fell off the list completely after 2024. Stroud was, once again, left off after 2025. For the Texans to get to the heights they hope to achieve, Stroud likely needs to find his way back onto this list. The Texans can’t completely count on their defense to be as other worldly as they were last season. If nothing else, the defense likely won’t have the same good injury luck as they did in 2025. So, for some perspective, here are the quaretrbacks who made the list for 2025:
99. Justin Herbert, LAC
93. San Darnold, SEA
81. Brock Purdy, SF
72. Trevor Lawrence, JAC
57. Joe Burrow, CIN
46. Dak Prescott, DAL
37. Jordan Love, GB
25. Drake Maye, NE
10. Josh Allen, BUF
6. Matthew Stafford, LAR
There are ten quarterbacks total on this list. That’s the bar for Stroud next season. Top ten.
Laremy Tunsil is 56th on this list, and I do not care
A year ago, the Texans decided to move on from Laremy Tunsil, trading him to the Washington Commanders for multiple draft picks, including a second round pick in this April’s draft that ended up being the 38th overall pick. Around football, people could not believe that the Texans would move on from a five time Pro Bowler. In Houston, Texan fans were far less bewildered than non-Houstonians, as they knew that Tunsil has “paycheck player” tendencies, and was a false start machine. Admittedly, Tunsil is still a very good player. It’s why he is in the PFF 101. I just have zero regret over that trade, and I can’t wait to see how the Texans deploy that 38th pick in the upcoming draft.