Pro Football Focus is at it again, and this time the Houston Texans secondary is firmly in their sights.
According to John Kosko from PFF, the Texans’ secondary is ranked No. 28 across the league, rounding out the bottom-5. Cornerbacks Derek Stingley, Steven Nelson, Desmond King, and safeties Jalen Pitre and Jimmie Ward were penciled in as the starters.
The Texans’ unit graded in the top half of the league last season and has added one of the better safeties in the NFL in Ward. Expect Stingley to be used more appropriately after he earned just a 49.1 PFF grade across 599 snaps as a rookie.
It didn’t help Stingley’s case that he only played nine games in his rookie campaign. Perhaps more than 600 snaps could have improved his grades. Nevertheless the former 2022 first-round pick collected 43 combined tackles, 1.0 sack, five pass breakups, and an interception.
Pitre was the radiant rookie among Houston’s draft class. The former Baylor product generated 147 combined tackles and five interceptions, leading the team in both categories. The second-round safety started 17 games for the Texans and relegated veteran Eric Murray to mostly special teams.
The addition of Ward is where Houston sports fans are hoping to see marked improvement along the backend. Ward spent the first nine seasons of his career with the San Francisco 49ers, let alone the past two years with DeMeco Ryans as his defensive coordinator. Ward has the perfect blend of experience in the system and existing talent to elevate the production for Houston’s secondary.
