Texans free agent addition lands on Yahoo Sports' NFL breakout candidate list

The Texans signed, like, half of the available NFL free agent class this offseason, so maybe nothing about this blog will be a surprise. After three months of big time spending (and trading), Houston heads into this year as a Super Bowl favorite, which is a wild sentence to type considering what people were saying about them this time last year.

But that's what spending hundreds of millions of dollars will get you, and now the Texans head into this season as, apparently, NFL Preview Content darlings. The latest is at Yahoo Sports, where NFL analyst Nate Tice rounded up a bunch of potential breakout candidates ahead of the 2024 season. And wouldn't you believe it, the Texans make a cameo! Multiple cameos, actually.

Yahoo Sports names Azeez Al-Shaair on 2024 breakout candidate list

Al-Shaair, meanwhile, is a player I wanted the Texans to sign last year, but he instead took a one-year foray to Nashville to start in the middle for the Titans. Al-Shaair now gets matched with head coach DeMeco Ryans, his former 49ers defensive coordinator, in a more expanded role ... I liked this signing for the Texans and think Al-Shaair will benefit with the team's pass rush and narrower play calling menu.

[Awkwardly avoiding eye contact] Yeah I, uh, also liked this signing the whole time. Everyone has always been in agreement that the Al-Shaair contract was good, including me. No one thought it was a curious move or an overpay or anything like that. It's so nice when everyone on the internet politely agrees about something.

And Al-Shaair wasn't even the only Texans player to make the list! Cornerback Derek Stingley got a shout out, too. Tice describes the Stingley as someone who "has the size, range and ball skills to punish those quarterbacks and ascend to one of the game’s elite outside corners." Yes! Ascend! That is exactly what I'm trying to hear about Texans players in late July. The vibes are off the charts already.