In a perfect world, Houston Texans players would only be NAMED to the 2026 Pro Bowl Games, not participating in them. That’s because players whose teams are in the Super Bowl are unable to participate in the Pro Bowl activities. Their schedules are already booked with preparation for playing in the greatest championship sporting event in our American culture — the Super Bowl.
Unfortunately, the Houston Texans do not live in a perfect world, as we learned a couple Sundays ago in Foxboro. Their quarterback, C.J. Stroud, was far from perfect, tossing four interceptions into Patriot arms before halftime even hit. The Texans would go on to lose, 28-16, thus freeing up their four Pro Bowl selections — WR Nico Collins, CB Derek Stingley, DE Will Anderson, and LB Azeez Al-Shaair — to head to San Francisco next week to play in the Pro Bowl Games, a precursor to the Super Bowl on Sunday.
Now, thanks to some fallout on the AFC Pro bowl roster, those four will be joined by two of the their Texan teammates, as CB Kamari Lassiter and S Calen Bullock have been named to the game, rising from “alternate” status to “participant” status. Lassiter will be replacing New England’s Christian Gonzalez, and Bullock will be replacing Pittsburgh’s Jalen Ramsey.
In just his second season in the league, Bullock started all 17 games for the first time in his career and recorded 64 tackles, 10 passes defensed for the second consecutive season, a team-high-tying four interceptions, and his first career forced fumble. Bullock’s breakout performance came in a Week 12 win versus Buffalo, where he recorded five tackles, two picks, and a forced fumble. In the postseason, Bullock returned an interception for a 50 yard touchdown against the Steelers.
Like Bullock, Lassiter is in just his second NFL season, and earns his first Pro Bowl selection after posting 91 tackles, 17 passes defensed, 7 tackles for loss, and 4 interceptions. His 17 passes defensed ranked fourth in the AFC, while his four interceptions were tied for third in the conference. From Weeks 4-12, Lassiter recorded at least one pass defensed in eight consecutive games, the longest streak in the NFL this season.
With six Pro Bowlers now, this is the most participants the Texans have had in the Pro Bowl event since 2018, when DE J.J. Watt, WR DeAndre Hopkins, QB Deshaun Watson, RB Lamar Miller, LB Benardrick McKinney, and DE Jadeveon Clowney were all selected.