This offseason, the Texans got that much closer to a Super Bowl defense by adding Danielle Hunter to their edge-rush profile with a two-year, $49 million contract with $48 million guaranteed. Hunter is a perfect complement to Will Anderson, the reigning Defensive Rookie of the year, as Hunter’s game is about speed and bend, while Anderson is all about power to the pocket.
To double down on that speed/bend thing, Houston also selected USC end Solomon Byrd with the 238th pick in the seventh round. That pick could pay off far past its value. Last season for the Trojans, the Wyoming transfer totaled seven sacks and 41 total pressures on 320 pass-rushing reps. There’s not much to say about Byrd as a run defender, but then again, the Texans probably won’t line him up inside 20% of the time in 3-man fronts as the Trojans did for whatever reason.
With Byrd, you put him on the outside in a rotation and let him hunt… or you let him use his formidable gap quickness on stunts and games. No reason to overthink it.
The Texans went all in on Danielle Hunter because they want guys who can bend the edge and get under tackles. Watch out for seventh-round pick Solomon Byrd from USC. He's got that dip-and-rip and motorcycle lean (copyright @gregcosell), and he sure plays a mean pinball. pic.twitter.com/TvIYipSnVj
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) May 2, 2024
