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| Texans Safety Calen Bullock (2), Cornerbacks Kamari Lassiter (3), and Derek Stingley Jr. (24) |
What do you do when you have a defense that ranked in the top five in most statistical categories throughout the 2025 NFL regular season, including total defense, yards per game, completion percentage, interceptions, tackles for loss, and fewer than 100 rushing yards per game?
If you are the Houston Texans, you tear it all down and start over from scratch.
Even with two First Team NFL All-Pro selections in cornerback Derek Stingley and defensive end Will Anderson Jr., a Second-Team All-Pro in defensive end Danielle Hunter, and three Pro Bowl players in linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair, cornerback Kamari Lassiter, and safety Calen Bullock, the Texans’ defense is ready to erase the best defensive season the franchise has ever had from their memories.
Yet building a championship-caliber defense with Super Bowl expectations in 2026 will require them to forget everything they did last season and enter training camp focused on improvement.
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| Texans DE Will Anderson Jr. |
“What happened in 2025 is no longer,” said Texans defensive end Will Anderson Jr. exclusively to Big Sarge Media at his football camp in Georgia. “What are we going to do right now in 2026? What is the 2026-27 Texans going to look like?
“I think for us, it is about elevating our mindset, elevating our expectations, going above and beyond the expectations and standards we have for ourselves to get over that hump.”
The blockade or perverbial “Hump” that Anderson speaks of for the Texans has been three straight divisional round losses, which left a lot of the defensive players believing that they did not do enough to help Houston achieve postseason success last season, even though they only allowed 28 total points to the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots.
“I didn’t do enough to help this team win,” said defensive back Jalen Pitre after the Patriots defeated the Texans in the divisional round of the playoffs. “I got to own that, simple as that, and I am going to get it fixed.”
With the addition of fifth-year safety Reed Blankenship, who signed with the Texans as an unrestricted free agent in March, Houston may have solidified the one position that had been a revolving door of players coming and going from the strong safety spot.
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| Texans Safety Reed Blankenship |
Under head coach DeMeco Ryans and defensive coordinator Matt Burke, the Texans have become one of the most ferocious and premier defensive units over the last three seasons.
The players understand the expectations and know that everyone is held accountable for doing their part as this season begins.
“Last year doesn’t mean a lot to me,” said Texans cornerbacks coach Dino Vasso about the defensive success. “It is a new season. What happened last year happened, and we have to stack and improve on that, but to me, that doesn’t really matter for us.
“Again, we just try to compare ourselves to who we were yesterday. We try to get better every day. It is always another step for us to take.”