DeMeco Ryans’ Defense to Get $5.3M Boost After Texans HC Cleared Demands From Locker Room

Last season, DeMeco Ryans’s defense wasn’t flashy, but it punched above its weight, quick, physical, and ridiculously detail-oriented. It’s the reason Ryans doesn’t need to hover over the offense. He’s planted on his turf. And that turf held firm: the Texans ranked top six in rush defense (per FOX Sports) and clutched up with timely takeaways late in the year. Now with Will Anderson Jr. primed for a second-year leap and seasoned enforcers like Denico Autry and Azeez Al-Shaair now in the mix, H-Town’s defense looks ready to slam doors shut.

Even better, the Texans just plugged in a ball hawk—C.J. Gardner-Johnson. That’s on top of a secondary that already had Kamari Lassiter and Calen Bullock riding rookie breakouts, plus the ever-tenacious Jalen Pitre and lockdown artist Derek Stingley Jr., who just got crowned the second-best corner in the league by NFL insiders. Houston had 16 picks in 2024, playoffs included. Add Gardner-Johnson, who had six INTs last season (tied for third-most), and you’re talking about a unit custom-built for Ryans’ high-intensity, hit-first identity. And get this: Gardner-Johnson has 13 INTs since 2022—fourth-most in the league. Stingley? He’s tied for fifth with 11.

Now, Ryans isn’t overhyping the new addition, but he knows what he’s working with. “C.J. is just, he’s one piece. He’s a foundational piece to what we’re doing,” Ryans said. “But it’s going to take a collective effort of building that puzzle… We all work together the right way, and we can have a really good secondary.” That secondary just got its front-seven muscle back too—Christian Harris, who signed a 4-year, $5.3 million deal, is fresh off the injured list.

To that point, Ryans added, “Christian is working hard and he’ll be ready to roll for training camp.” And with a 4.44 speed, Harris is again ready to outrun running backs. In fact, DC Matt Burke couldn’t hold back. “Yeah, he’s been here working, like he always is… Christian has been doing his thing… and he’s on track to be there for us.” And that’s big.

That’s because Harris once dropped 101 tackles in a season and torched the Browns with a pick-six and sack combo in the playoffs—something only seven NFL players have ever done. Not only that, against Baltimore, he tallied seven more tackles and kept Lamar Jackson on the run.

So now, while things are shaping up beautifully on defense, DeMeco Ryans’s Texans put the NFL on high alert.

DeMeco Ryans & the Texans are building a monster defense

Championship defenses don’t just show up. It’s built brick by brick, especially under a coach like DeMeco Ryans, who knows exactly how to weaponise grit and talent. On the Green Light podcast, former NFL lineman Brian Baldinger didn’t mince words. “Houston Texans? No question,” he said with full conviction.

Sitting beside Chris Long, Baldinger made it clear that Ryans’s defensive unit is far from just promising. “I mean, what Will Anderson is doing in this business—he’s off to a great start.” Naturally, Baldinger went further. He called Anderson’s game a clinic on edge play. “Way smokes the corner right now,” he said. And honestly, the numbers back him up.

In 2024, Anderson ranked 10th in the league with 11 sacks. With 18 career sacks in just two seasons, the 2023 Defensive Rookie of the Year is flashing DPOY potential, molded as much by backyard brawls with five older sisters as by SEC wars and creek fishing in Georgia.

But Anderson’s not the only heat-seeker Ryans is unleashing. On the other side, there’s Danielle Hunter, who Baldinger called “one of the greatest pass rushers for a long time.” He added, “With his variety and how awkward [his moves are]—you really have to be patient with a guy like that.” And with 12 sacks last season and 99.5 for his career, the five-time Pro Bowler’s resume speaks loudly.

Still, the secret sauce? Ryans’s endless rotation. As Baldinger pointed out, “Whether it’s Settle coming on board right now, Sheldon Rankins has had good days, Mario Edwards—they’ve got a number of guys.” And that’s what makes this Texans defense flat-out scary.