The Houston Texans are sending several players to the 2025 Pro Bowl Games, including repeat selections Derek Stingley Jr., Nico Collins, and Will Anderson Jr. Fittingly, a fourth Texans Pro Bowl selection also resides on the defensive side of the ball.
The Texans are focused on securing a win in Week 17, with a challenging road game against the Los Angeles Chargers looming.
Still, it is an uplifting development for a team trending in the right direction.
Texans Team Captain Earns First Pro Bowl
GettyAzeez Al-Shaair #0 of the Houston Texans reacts against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Azeez Al-Shaair is the lone first-timer for the Texans, joining Anderson, Collins, and Stingley in garnering the annual recognition. Al-Shaair is in his second season with the Texans, and he is a two-time team captain.
Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans has raved about what Al-Shaair, the Texans’ Walter Payton Man of the Year club winner, has brought to the team. The sentiments are mutual.
Al-Shaair is on track for the third 100-plus-tackle season of his career.
The former undrafted free agent and San Francisco 49ers defender has had his polarizing moments, but Ryans has stood by him throughout, even in the face of criticism. That speaks to the bond the coach and LB had developed over their years together.
Ryans, a linebacker during his playing career, was Al-Shaair’s position coach with the 49ers when the latter entered the league in 2019.
Notably, Al-Shaair has one more year on his three-year, $34 million contract with the Texans.
Multiple Texans Heading Back to Pro Bowl
GettyHouston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans reacts against the Seattle Seahawks.
Collins and Stingley are both back-to-back selections, while Anderson makes his return after a one-year absence.
Anderson was a Pro Bowler as a rookie, also winning the Defensive Rookie of the Year. He missed out on the honor in 2024 despite increasing his sack production and even garnering minor attention for Defensive Player of the Year.
That was because the Texans added Danielle Hunter, a Pro Bowler in 2024 but not in 2025.
Collins and Stingley both broke through last season, with the former also earning First Team All-Pro honors.
Collins has garnered another look this season despite missing one game due to a concussion, but he has also already secured his third straight 1,000-plus-yard season. A new career high is a lofty goal, but it remains possible.
Stingley has allowed a career-low 44.3% completion, per Pro Football Reference.
The Texans have already rewarded Collins (three years, $72.7 million) and Stingley (three years, $90 million), getting ahead of their improvement and likely saving some money.
Jalen Pitre Snubbed
Alex Slitz/Getty ImagesJalen Piter #5 of the Houston Texans is introduced before facing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud has missed the Pro Bowl now in back-to-back seasons, and part of his issue this season was missing three games due to a concussion. That may also have been the case for safety Jalen Pitre.
NFL.com’s Kevin Patra listed Pitre, “a sticky cover man who can mirror shifty receivers and packs a wallop in run defense,” among this year’s snubs.
Patra called Pitre “an ideal slot,” and said he is “staking a claim” for the top spot in that role.
“The rest of the high-profile Houston defense seems to have overshadowed Pitre,” Patra wrote on December 23. “The 26-year-old’s -0.63 EPA per target is by far the best among slot corners and is best among all defensive backs (corner, safety, slot). Pitre has generated four INTs, 11 passes defended and 66 tackles. When Pitre gets downhill, whether against the run or pass, he makes sure his presence is felt.”
Patra also mentioned Hunter, CB Kamari Lassiter, and safety Calen Bullock as Texans Players who were deserving of Pro Bowl honors. Some could still get the call as alternates. Al-Shaair, Anderson, Collins, and Stingley are in, but would surely pass in favor of a Super Bowl berth.
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