The job that Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans has done with elevating his defense has been the talk of the NFL sports world throughout the 2025 season.
Being hired in 2023, he took a unit that was third worst in the NFL (30th) in 2022 and immediately righted the ship to the tune of a 16-spot leap to 14th-best in his first campaign. They then launched another 11 spots to fifth-best in 2024, before becoming the most dominant defense in all of football in 2025.
Since the final season of the franchise’s legendary defensive end, and future NFL Hall of Famer, J.J. Watt in 2020, Houston had actually fielded units that finished 30th (2020), 31st (2021) and in the aforementioned 30th spot in the three-year lead-up to Ryans’ head coaching debut.
Washington Commanders defensive end Charles Omenihu knows the impact of Houston’s current defensive dominance on a more intimate level, as he was a member of the organization during the dysfunctional lean years of 2020-2021 under defensive coordinators Anthony Weaver (current Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator) and Lovie Smith respectively. Funny enough, he was actually also part of the 2019 defense (28th ranked) that was shredded 51-31 in the AFC Divisional round against the Kansas City Chiefs.
He recently appeared on an episode of the SpeakEasy Podcast and raved about the work the Ryans has done to flip the narrative of the team while creating an elite developmental system that players of every sort could launch their careers out of.
DE Charles Omenihu has high praises for HC DeMeco Ryans’ system
Speaking to co-host Emmanuel Acho and crew, Omenihu opined this about Ryan’s defensive system and culture,
“Anybody that wants to elevate D-line play, get in the DeMeco Ryans system. You're automatically gonna do this (airplane elevation hand gesture). As long as you got them D-linemen going how they’re supposed to go, it really doesn’t matter who’s back there. If you’re a lineman that hasn’t found their way in the league, try and get in a system like that. You're gonna find your way pretty quickly.”
His words ring true, as Ryans and defensive coordinator Matt Burke have both been credited with helping create one of the most impactful defensive line units in the NFL. This includes helping several talented players reach new levels of production and/or consistency while being in Houston.
Ryans’ defensive system has helped to elevate several defensive linemen
Players like Tim Settle Jr., Sheldon Rankins and Tommy Togiai have all found pay dirt as interior playmakers under Ryans, with their play leading to sizable contracts, re-signings and/or extensions. Omenihu’s words shine as a testament to the sustainability that Ryans has helped cultivate while being the head man for the last four years.
It’s a far cry from the dumpster fire of an infrastructure they had during Omenihu’s time in Houston.