The Houston Texans have enjoyed an increasingly disruptive defense since head coach DeMeco Ryans’ hire in 2023. They’ve gone from 30th-overall in 2022, to 14th-overall in 2023, to fifth-overall in 2024 and best-overall in 2025.
The transformation is currently being anchored by one of the most dominant, if not the most dominant, pass rushing duos of the last few years in All-Pro defensive ends Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter. And this is not just fan conjecture, this is a league-wide statement of fact.
According to Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport, Anderson and Hunter sit on the mountaintop of the league’s 10-best pass rushing duos ahead of the 2026 season. The full list is:
- Houston Texans (Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter)
- Denver Broncos (Nik Bonitto and Jonathan Cooper)
- Los Angeles Rams (Jared Verse and Byron Young)
- Pittsburgh Steelers (T.J. Watt and Nick Herbig)
- Jacksonville Jaguars (Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker)
- New York Giants (Abdul Carter and Brian Burns)
- Cleveland Browns (Myles Garrett and Alex Wright)
- Los Angeles Chargers (Tuli Tuipulotu and Khalil Mack)
- Detroit Lions (Aidan Hutchinson and D.J. Wonnum)
- Minnesota Vikings (Dallas Turner and Andrew Van Ginkel)
Davenport explained Houston’s placement plainly with, “Like it was going to be anyone else.”
Texans’ Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter crowned as league’s best
He went into more detail on how elite Houston’s dynamic tag-team has been, starting with Anderson. Davenport said,
“There's a reason the Houston Texans just made Will Anderson Jr. the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL. Since moving up to draft Anderson third overall in 2023, all he has done is break stuff. Seven sacks and Defensive Rookie of the Year honors that season. Eleven sacks the following year. And then 12 in 2025.
He then added his sentiments of the prolific play of Anderson’s running mate in Hunter. He proclaimed,
“And Anderson isn't even the most productive pass-rusher on his own team. That would be veteran Danielle Hunter, who has been named to five Pro Bowls and has four straight seasons with double-digit sacks, including 15 last season.”
Speaking of stats and accolades, the two have combined for career totals of 697 total tackles (466 solo, 231 assist), 144.5 sacks, 19 forced fumbles (eight recovered), 20 passes defended, 79.5 run stuffs, seven Pro Bowls and three All-Pro nods (including 191 total tackles, 50 sacks, eight forced fumbles, 11 passes defended, 33.5 run stuffs, three Pro Bowls and two All-Pros since they joined forces in 2024).
Their supreme defensive output helped engineer the team’s franchise record-tying nine-game win streak to close out the 2025 regular season (10-straight including their lone playoff win vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers).
With the addition of playmakers like rookie defensive tackle Kayden McDonald, defensive end Logan Hall and multiple linebacking options in Wade Woodaz and Aiden Fisher, expect the two to become even more of a headache for offensive coordinators now that they are more threats to game plan for.
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