The Houston Texans’ 2025 season and postseason ended a few weeks earlier than we all had hoped. Unfortunately, thanks to four C.J. Stroud interceptions, we are left preparing for a weekend involving the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots in the AFC. That sucks. 

Additionally, we are left not only preparing for the upcoming offseason for the Houston Texans, but also assessing what we just watched for the better part of 20 weeks, going back to the end of training camp in 2025. Who were the heroes this season? Who were the disappointments? 

One mechanism to at least generate conversation is the scoring system on the Pro Football Focus website, where they assess the performance of all 11 players on the field for each and every play of all 272 NFL regular season games. The Texans’ final scores for the 2025 season are in, and here are five hot takes, based entirely on the team’s individual PFF scores: 

Will Anderson is the best defensive player in football

Anderson has the highest score of any edge rusher, and the highest score of any defensive player. He likely will not win the Defensive Player of the Year award, as Myles Garrett broke the regular season record for sacks, and that’s tough to beat. However, you can absolutely make an argument for Anderson as the most impactful overall defensive player in football, when you factor in his run defense. For the record, Danielle Hunter’s overall PFF grade  was fifth among all 120 qualifying edge rushers. 

C.J. Stroud is barely a starting NFL quarterback 

Stroud finished 31st out of 38 qualifying quarterbacks in overall PFF score. Given how things ended in the postseason, with Stroud having one of the worst playoff games by a quarterback this century, many Texans fans are probably nodding their head in agreement. However, if we are taking the season in totality, I think Stroud was definitely better than a 31st overall score. I’d have him closer to the high teens. 

Blake Fisher may be salvageable 

Fisher was a second round pick, who started most of the back half of 2024 at right tackle, after Tytus Howard was injured. This season, Fisher had an awful training camp, started the season as a backup, but found a role as the sixth offensive lineman in the team’s jumbo package, where he performed well. PFF has him as the 29th best tackle in the sport (among 89 qualifying tackles). That feels high, but if Fisher could find a way to win the starting job at right tackle, and do so deservedly, that would be a major development for the Texans. 

Kamari Lassiter is actually the better of the Texans’ starting cornerbacks 

The two Texans starting cornerbacks are both crucial to what this team tries to do defensively each week. In the eyes of the experts, Stingley is an All Pro, and Lassiter is knocking on the door of the Pro Bowl. So both are good players. However, the PFF scores view Lassiter as the better and more complete player, and honestly, when you factor in how impactful Lassiter is in run support and tackling in the screen game, it makes for an interesting debate. 

Tommy Togiai is an elite interior defensive lineman

The Texans picked up Togiai off the street in the second half of the 2024 season. He was able to get on the field, make some plays, and do enough to get invited back in 2025. Somewhere along the way, Togiai established himself as one of the best interior defensive lineman on the Texans, and as the season wore on, he made big play after big play. Ultimately, he wound up 9th in PFF score among all of the defensive tackles in the sport. Togiai is signed up for $3.3 million for next season, making him one of Nick Caserio’s best in-season signings during his time as GM of the team.

This article appears in Private: Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2026.

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