{"id":767752,"date":"2026-02-22T00:28:19","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T00:28:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/767752\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T00:28:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T00:28:19","slug":"texans-de-will-anderson-jr-named-to-pffs-top-101-players-of-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/767752\/","title":{"rendered":"Texans DE Will Anderson Jr. named to PFF’s Top 101 players of 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

Feb. 21, 2026, 1:51 p.m. CT<\/p>\n

There are great players for the Houston Texans<\/a> and then there are elite names that alter the outcome of games.<\/p>\n

All-Pro defensive end Will Anderson Jr.<\/a> falls in the latter category after being the face of the Texans<\/a> last fall. Pro Football Focus<\/a> tends to agree, which is why he graded out as the highest player on the defensive side for the AFC South franchise.<\/p>\n

PFF<\/a> recently finished its top 101 players list<\/a> for the 2025 season, naming the best players based on their metrics and on-field play. Do-it-all defensive back Jalen Pitre found his way into the top 101, ranking No. 35 overall ahead of defensive back Kamari Lassiter (No. 55) and wide receiver Nico Collins (No. 50).<\/p>\n

As for Anderson? He came in ranked at No. 5 overall, the second-highest defensive player on the metric. The only one higher? Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett, who ranked No. 1 overall by PFF, though the website did say Anderson was the highest-graded player by consistency.<\/p>\n

“Anderson finished 2025 as the highest-graded defensive player in the NFL,” PFF wrote. “He was a menace to opposing offenses all year, with his 102 pressures and 25.3% PFF pass-rush win rate leading the league.”<\/p>\n

Expert NFL picks: Exclusive betting insights only at USA TODAY.<\/a><\/p>\n

Year 3 was one to remember for Anderson, who was the only player to challenge Garrett for votes as the league’s top defender. While he ranked second on the Texans in sacks, tackles for loss and QB hits, his ability to pressure quarterbacks into rushing through their progression. No player also finished with an 88.2 or higher in PFF grades each week.<\/p>\n

Anderson is expected to be the next defensive name locked up long-term on a new deal this offseason. Based on his breakout season, he’s expected to be one of the highest-paid defensive players in league history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Feb. 21, 2026, 1:51 p.m. CT There are great players for the Houston Texans and then there are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":767753,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2056],"tags":[95878,7,221,253,2368,6,96520,96521,96028,95882,95953,101571,101059,95895,96678,95906,95883,97222,222,95881],"class_list":{"0":"post-767752","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston-texans","8":"tag-accessfree","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-houston","11":"tag-houston-texans","12":"tag-houstontexans","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-sstssportsnfltexans","15":"tag-sstsntexans","16":"tag-tagafc-south","17":"tag-tagamerican-football","18":"tag-taghouston-texans","19":"tag-tagjalen-pitre","20":"tag-tagkamari-lassiter","21":"tag-tagnfl-hub","22":"tag-tagnico-collins","23":"tag-tagoverall-positive","24":"tag-tagsports-news","25":"tag-tagwill-anderson-jr","26":"tag-texans","27":"tag-typestory"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116111455431929106","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=767752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767752\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/767753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=767752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=767752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=767752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}