The Houston Texans have built something rare: a roster that is already good and still getting younger in the places that matter most. That combination is exactly why ESPN NFL analyst Aaron Schatz has them sitting at No. 2 on his list of rosters made up of players under 25.
For Houston, that kind of ranking is more than a nice label. It’s a sign that the team’s window is open right now, with a core that includes C.J. Stroud, Will Anderson Jr., Derek Stingley Jr., Kamari Lassiter and Aaron Bullock all still on the way up.
Schatz pointed out just how close the Texans were to the top spot and how quickly that picture could shift. “The Texans were No. 1 on this list for three straight years, and they've now fallen all the way down ... to No.
- However, they're going to fall a lot further next year, because star players Stroud and Anderson barely qualified to be counted.
Anderson -- who had 12 sacks in 2025 -- will turn 25 on Sept. 2, and Stroud -- who threw for 3,041 yards -- will do the same on Oct. 3.
However, there's still plenty of young talent behind those two. Start with the secondary, as safety Calen Bullock and cornerback Lassiter are both just 23 years old.
Left tackle Ersery is 24, and his backup, Blake Fisher, who played a lot as a sixth lineman in 2025, is 23. First-round rookie Keylan Rutledge will start at center this season after turning 23 on Sept.
- And the two Iowa State receivers the Texans drafted a year ago, Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel, are both 23 as well.”
That’s the kind of depth that keeps a team dangerous beyond one season. Houston already went 12-5 last season, and the organization appears to be doing a solid job of keeping its best young pieces in place.
Still, the message here is simple: the Texans can’t afford to waste the stretch they’re in. A roster this young and this talented doesn’t stay intact forever, and the Seattle Seahawks of the mid-2010s offer a reminder of how fast that kind of group can start to change. Seattle won the Super Bowl in 2013 and then lost to the New England Patriots in the next title game before the roster began to turn over.
Houston is in position to contend for the next few seasons, and the challenge now is making sure all that youth turns into something bigger before the clock starts ticking louder. As the 2026 season approaches, the Texans look like a team with real upside and a real chance to make the most of it.
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For Texans supporters, the more immediate takeaway is what is not happening. There is no indication Hopkins is headed toward a coaching role in Houston, and the team has not shown interest in adding coaches to its offensive staff. Still, the idea of Hopkins moving into that kind of role elsewhere is the sort of development that naturally sends Houston fans back to a familiar name and wondering what it might mean down the road. [Read more 🡒]