PFF's most underrated Texans player highlights how deep their roster is

The Texans may have one of the most high profile defenses in football next year. With guys like Danielle Hunter, Will Anderson, and Derek Stingley Jr., Houston's defense figures to have household names at every level of the defense in 2024 any beyond. Even guys like Jeff Okudah, Denico Autry, and Azeez Al-Shaair have at least some notariety, albeit for a variety of different reasons.

So when it's time to choose the most underrated player on the Texans (which I guess it is?), there are some tough decisions to be made. Fortunately, Pro Football Focus took that responsibility off our plate. They recently went team-by-team to try and identify the most underrated player on each squad, and [extremely Logged On voice] the guy that settled on for Houston will surprise you!

PFF's most underrated Texans player highlights how deep their roster is

Choice: Folorunso Fatukasi

PFF! Out of left field! I guess you can't really call Hunter, Anderson, or Stingley underrated – given the amount of hype that the Texans are going to deal with next season, it doesn't really feel like any of them are underrated. But Fatukasi is an interesting choice, and here's what PFF's rationale was:

It is not easy to find an underrated player on a team that is getting as much hype as the Texans. However, Fatukasi’s signing is flying under the radar. If he can get back to his old form that he showed with the Jets, he can be a valuable piece to this defense. While he did not live up to expectations in Jacksonville, during the 2019 and 2020 seasons Fatukasi earned a 90.4 run-defense grade, which ranked third among interior defenders — behind only Aaron Donald and Cameron Heyward.

The Texans could certainly use some interior run defense, too: as things stand currently, Anderson and Derek Barnett – both edge rushers – are the only two guys on the Texans' front that rank among the top 5 in PFF run grade on the roster. With Autry being only so-so against the run, there's clearly a role cut out for Fatukasi. Anytime you get someone who produces like Aaron Donald and Cam Heyward, you feel pretty good about it.