As the Bucs near the end of their offseason program and the 2025 season draws ever closer, we're taking a look at each team the Buccaneers are going to face along the way. From how those teams fared last year, to what they've done with the roster since, to some as-yet-unanswered questions – we want to get a better feel for what the Bucs will be up against this fall. Today's focus is on a Houston team that has won two straight division titles and used the 2025 offseason to reload at several positions on offense in order to get young quarterback C.J. Stroud back on an ascending path.
2024 Results
After their breakout season in 2023, with a 10-7 record that was just one win shy of the franchise's total over the previous three seasons combined, the Texans' 2024 campaign seemed like a mild disappointment at times. Stroud seemed to regress a bit after his stunning rookie season, the offensive line struggled mightily and the receiving corps was shredded by injuries. After a 5-1 start, the Texans lost six of their next 10 and scored more than 23 points in a game just twice in that span. The team seemed to bottom out in a 31-2 loss to Baltimore in Week 17.
And yet, after a Week 18 win over Tennessee, the Texans once again stood as AFC South champions, with the same 10-7 record as they year before. They also won a playoff game for the second straight season, drubbing the Los Angeles Chargers, 32-12, before losing to the Chiefs in Kansas City in the divisional round. Houston's defense even improved to sixth in the NFL, led by an often-lethal pass rush following the offseason additions of Danielle Hunter in free agency and Will Anderson in the draft.
Stroud, the second-overall pick in the 2023 draft, was a star out of the gate, finishing his rookie season with a 9-6 record in 15 starts plus 4,108 passing yards, a 23-5 touchdown-interception ratio, a league-low 1.0 interception rate and a 100.8 passer rating. Almost certainly due in part to the aforementioned problems with the offensive line and receiving corps, Stroud saw his passer rating dip to 87.0 in his sophomore campaign, while his touchdown total fell to 20 and his interceptions expanded to 12.
Wide receivers Nico Collins, Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell all missed significant time, though Collins was still able to top 1,000 yards for the second year in a row. Former Bengal Joe Mixon led the rushing attack with a 1,016-yard season and scored 12 total touchdowns. The Texans compiled the 15th-ranked ground game but the line permitted 52 sacks of Stroud and ranked 25th in sacks allowed per pass play.
Houston opened with its first 2-0 start since 2016 and in Week Five notched an impressive 23-20 win over Buffalo, with Ka'imi Fairbairn hitting a 59-yard field goal as time expired. A last-second 24-22 loss in Green Bay started a 1-13 skid that also included a very close defeat at the hands of the powerful Detroit Lions. A blowout win at Dallas on Monday Night Football in Week 11 started a 3-1 stretch before consecutive losses to the Chiefs and Ravens in late December.
Houston's swarming defense was on display in the postseason opener against the Chargers, producing four interceptions and four sacks of Justin Herbert. During the regular season, star cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. and rookie safety Calen Bullock each notched five interceptions, while Hunter led the team with 12.0 sacks, one more than Anderson, who the Texans drafted one pick after Stroud in 2023 after a bold trade up.
2025 Arrivals
The Texans definitely didn't stand pat along the offensive line after their rough 2024 season. Multiple starters were shipped out, as detailed below, making room for the additions of tackles Cam Robinson, Trent Brown and rookie second-rounder Aireontae Ersery plus guard Laken Tomlinson.
Robinson, who was traded from Jacksonville to Minnesota last season, got a one-year, $12 million deal and is likely the new, if temporary starter at left tackle. He'll have to hold off Ersery, the University of Minnesota standout taken 48th overall and probably the team's left tackle of the future. Blake Fisher, a 2024 second-round pick, is the front-runner to start at right tackle with Tytus Howard kicking inside to guard, though the experienced Brown gives them another option. Tomlinson could potentially unseat either Howard or Juice Scruggs at one of the two guard positions.
As for the receiving corps, "reload" may be putting it mildly. Collins is back as the number-one option but Dell could miss all of 2025 with the serious knee injury he suffered late last season, and Stefon Diggs is now with the Patriots. Accordingly, the Texans drafted not one but two Iowa State receivers – Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel – among the first 79 picks and also traded for Jacksonville's Christian Kirk. Kirk is going into the final year of the lucrative four-year contract he signed with the Jaguars and only cost the Texans a 2026 seventh-round pick. The team added even more receiver depth in free agency by picking up Justin Watson from the Chiefs and Braxton Berrios from the Dolphins. Berrios could also land the punt return job.
In a deep running back class, Houston landed USC's Woody Marks in the fourth round and he should lighten the load on Mixon as the second option.
The Texans will likely have two new starters on defense. Defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins, most recently of Cincinnati, got a one-year deal and could pair with Tim Settle on the interior line. Houston also traded for Eagles safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, a versatile playmaker and trash-talking tone-setter who is likely to start next to Bullock at the back end of the defense.
Otherwise, the Texans signed a handful of players on lower-level one or two-year deals to add depth on defense and contribute on special teams. That includes cornerback Tremon Smith, linebackers Nick Niemann and E.J. Speed and outside linebacker Darrell Taylor. The Texans also signed veteran cornerback Ronald Darby to a small deal but he chose to retire earlier this week. They also used a third-round pick on USC cornerback Jaylin Smith, who was widely projected to be a later-round pick but now will be in position to compete with Jalen Pitre for the slot corner job.
2025 Departures
The Texans were expected to overhaul their offensive line in the offseason, but the first move in that endeavor was definitely unexpected. Houston elected to send starting left tackle Laremy Tunsil, regarded as their best offensive lineman though he had penalty issues in 2024, to Washington along with a draft pick to get four selections in the 2025-26 drafts, including a second-rounder next year.
Houston also traded guard Kenyon Green, a 2022 first-round pick who hadn't really panned out, to Philadelphia in exchange for Gardner-Johnson. In addition, the team released veteran guard Shaq Mason, who started 32 games in Houston over the past two years, with a June 1 designation to spread out his dead cap hit. Mason has yet to sign with another team.
After the Texans acquired Diggs in a trade with Buffalo in April of 2024, they quickly restructured his contract so that the receiver could hit free agency a year earlier. Sure enough, after eight games, 47 catches and a half-season on injured reserve in Houston, Diggs left to sign with the New England Patriots.
The Texans didn't lose much in free agency. Safety Eric Murray, in and out of the starting lineup the last four seasons (14 starts in 2024), signed with the Jaguars. Cornerback Jeff Okudah and linebacker Devin White, both of whom were only in Houston for short periods and didn't make a significant impact on the defense, signed with the Vikings and Raiders, respectively.
Other Noteworthy Developments
When DeMeco Ryans landed the head coaching job in Houston in 2023, he brought Bobby Slowik with him from the 49ers to serve as the offensive coordinator. After two seasons on the job, Slowik was let go and the Texans turned over the offensive reins to Nick Caley, who had previously served as a tight ends coach and passing game coordinator on Sean McVay's staff with the Rams. In addition to their offensive line overhaul, the Texans also made a change at the coaching level, replacing Chris Strausser with Cole Popovich, who was promoted from within. Popovich was also named the run game coordinator.
The Texans' longest-tenured player, long-snapper Jon Weeks, signed with the 49ers, ending a run in Houston that stretched for 15 years and included 244 games played.
The Texans, one of four teams in the NFL that conducts its practices and non-game day activities at its home stadium, is looking to build a new training facility away from NRG Stadium. No timetable has been set for the project as of yet, but the team feels as if it has outgrown its space on the current site and has been frequently interrupted by other events at the stadium.
Pressing Questions
Will all the changes around C.J. Stroud put him in position to take the next step in his development the team had anticipated would happen in 2024 after his phenomenal rookie campaign?
The Texans didn't get the second-year leap they surely expected from Stroud in 2024, rather witnessing a bit of a 'sophomore slump.' Considering how good Stroud was as a rookie, it's reasonable to believe that much of the disappointment was created by Stroud's environment, which included one of the worst-performing offensive lines in the NFL, a receiving corps decimated by injuries and an offensive coordinator who would be replaced after the season.
It's clear the Texans believed exactly that because they made dramatic moves to address all three issues, which are detailed above. There's no guarantee the new-look offensive line – which is still a work in progress with open competition at multiple spots – will be significantly better than it was in 2024, but the team certainly created a lot of options to field a stronger unit. The receiving corps is deep, if nothing else, and should be able to weather an injury or two along the way. And perhaps Caley will find a play-calling groove that brings the best out in Stroud.
Could Houston's defense compete for the top spot in the NFL's rankings?
As noted earlier, Houston's pass rush was elite in 2024 and should be the same in 2025, which sets a high floor for the Texans' defense. Anytime they can disrupt an opposing offense on early downs, they will have a very good chance to get off the field.
But there are stars and potential stars at every level of the defense, and plenty of depth as well. Stingley is in his prime, Bullock drew some Defensive Rookie of the Year votes in 2024 and Gardner-Johnson can be a force around the line of scrimmage. The middle of the defense is in good hands with linebackers Azeez Al-Shaair and Henry To'oTo'o and Ryans is one of the league's best defensive minds. On paper at least, Houston looks like it has the makings of one of the NFL's best defensive units.
