Houston Texans: 5 reasons the Texans can win the AFC South

Will Anderson Jr. takes the Texans' pass rush to another level.

The Houston Texans recorded 39 total sacks in 2022, putting them 20th in the NFL. Will Anderson Jr. will change that and record double-digit sacks as a rookie. If he can do that and the Texans record just ten more sacks on the season, that would have been good for top five in the league.

Of course, we can't take last season, add ten sacks to that number, and expect everything else in the league to fall into place. I do expect the Texans' pass rush to be considerably better. This is one area where the Texans can disrupt and cause problems for the division, particularly with the Titans and Colts with their rookie quarterbacks.

Even the great Tom Brady can be slowed by a great pass rush, as we witnessed when the New York Giants, led by Eli Manning, defeated the Patriots in the Super Bowl or when Patrick Mahomes was running for his life against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers a couple of seasons ago.

An Improved pass rush can be a great equalizer and makes life much easier for the secondary, which should be better, particularly with free-agent signee Jimmie Ward and year two for Derek Stingley Jr.

The biggest of all these reasons is undoubtedly the play of C.J. Stroud. It's also the biggest question mark but the one that can completely derail the season if he plays poorly. Even if the Texans can have a solid run game, a great pass rush, and Ryans proves to be a good coach, if Stroud can't get it done, all the other stuff won't matter.