They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder, and in sports, unfortunately that statement isn’t just some cliche. It’s a label for every season-ending injury to a player crucial to a team’s title hopes. Most recently, the Houston Texans felt the impact of this saying when wide receiver Jayden Higgins suffered an ACL tear that ended his 2026 season before they even got to the second game of the preseason.
Make no mistake, Higgins was not just having the best camp of the receiving corps, but he might have been having the best camp of any player at any position in Texans camp. He appeared primed to take his game to another level as the receiving threat opposite Nico Collins. Higgins, at a minimum, represented a piece C.J. Stroud could have used to put together a great season in pursuit of a big contract extension.
Along those lines, Higgins’ season-long absence got me thinking — who are the most important players on the Houston Texans? How would we rank them? You know I love a good power ranking, so here are my top ten most important Houston Texans:
HONORABLE MENTION: Jadeveon Clowney, Dalton Schultz, Sheldon Rankins, Tommy Togiai, Reed Blankenship, Henry To’o To’o, David Montgomery, Ka’imi Fairbairn
10 (tie). AIREONTAE ERSERY, LT and KEYLAN RUTLEDGE, G/C
Is it a cop out to pick both at number ten? Maybe, but I truly feel like any difference in importance between these two is razor thin, if not nonexistent. Nick Caserio called Rutledge the team’s best offensive lineman in his press conference earlier this week. Ersery is a young player at one of the five most important positions on the team. Either way, these two are the foundation for the Texans’ future on the offensive line.
9. JALEN PITRE, S/CB/LB
That Pitre is all the way down at ninth on this list shows you how many elite pieces this team has. Pitre might be the hardest player to replicate on this list, as no one else on this team, except maybe Kamari Lassiter, brings his combination of playmaking and physicality at all three levels of the defense.
8. CALEN BULLOCK, S
Bullock has developed into an elite “center fielder” in this defense, and is rapidly climbing the list of all time interception leaders in Texans history after just two seasons.
7. C.J. STROUD, QB
I doubt there’s another playoff team whose quarterback is as far down as seventh on a list like this. Ironically, the other team that comes to mind whose dynamic is similar won the Super Bowl last February, the Seattle Seahawks and Sam Darnold. Stroud’s seventh place ranking is a function of two things — the Texans’ defense is just THAT good and Davis Mills is a very viable backup.
6. NICO COLLINS, WR
Collins is the most irreplaceable player on the offense, especially now that Higgins is out for the season. If something happens to Collins, who is the Texans’ number one wide receiver? Jaylin Noel? Kayshon Boutte? Xavier Hutchinson? This is a terrifying thought, and it’s relevant, because Collins routinely misses two or three games per season.
5. AZEEZ AL-SHAAIR, LB
We saw how important Al-Shaair was to last season’s defense in the one game he missed, the Texans’ 23-21 squeaker over a bad Raiders team. Henry To’o To’o replaced Al-Shaair as the defensive play caller that day, and it was a mess. Al-Shaair’s leadership is tough to replace.
4. KAMARI LASSITER, CB
3. DEREK STINGLEY, Jr., CB
2. DANIELLE HUNTER, DE
1.WILL ANDERSON, Jr., DE
I’m lumping all four of these guys together, the four “pillars” of the Texans’ defense, two elite edge rushers along the front and two physical, playmaking corners in the back. If any one of these players is gone for an extended period of time, it’s a major crack in the foundation of the Texans’ defense’s eliteness. The signing of Jadeveon Clowney would cushion the blow of losing Hunter or Anderson a little bit, but over time, missing either one would catch up to the Texans.
