The Houston Texans have developed a heck of a team. With names like C.J. Stroud, Stefon Diggs, Nico Collins, Tank Dell, Joe Mixon on offense and Derek Stingley, Will Anderson, and Danielle Hunter on defense, the Texans are looking impressive. They turned around their entire franchise in one year, watching Stroud lead the team offensively to the postseason while Anderson emerged as a real wrecking ball on defense.
With minds like DeMeco Ryans leading the team, there is hope in Houston for the first time in a long time. They're so good right now that other teams are starting to watch how they build and develop their teams.
They are the toast of the NFL and it's not a surprise that their offseason has generated headline after headline. Yet, it isn't just the football players on the field that are getting the headlines. That's right, while the players have done a lot for the actual play, one other aspect of the Texans organization has now officially been ranked near the top of their respective area of expertise; the Houston Texans Cheerleaders.
The Texans cheer squad ranked sixth out of a list by Sports Illustrated, which has them behind the Kansas City Chiefs Cheerleaders at fifth, the New Orleans Saintsations at fourth, the Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders at third, the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders at second, and the Cincinnati Ben-Gals at first.
Sixth is pretty impressive, but it's worth noting that not all 32 teams have cheerleading squads. Only 24 teams have them, with the Texans being one of them. So they didn't finish six out of 32, they finished six out of 24.
As of right now, the Buffalo Bills, Chicago Bears, Cleveland Browns, Green Bay Packers, New York Giants and Jets, Los Angeles Chargers, and the Pittsburgh Steelers are the only teams to not have cheerleaders. Ironically, the Los Angeles Rams, LA's other team, do in fact have cheerleaders'. The Bills did have them, but the squad sued the team in 2013 which led to the team ending the squad's existence after 47 years.
For those of you interested, the Baltimore Colts were the first NFL team to have cheerleaders, and only the Washington Commanders and Baltimore Ravens have expanded past cheerleading and into an actual marching band. An idea that should be in all 32 stadiums in the NFL.