The Houston Texans traded up with the Arizona Cardinals in the spring of 2023 to grab the third overall pick, then used it on Will Anderson Jr., a linebacker and edge rusher who helped anchor a fast turnaround in Houston. Since then, the Texans have gone from a 10–7 division winner with a playoff victory to back-to-back postseason berths and another win in 2024 and 2025.
Anderson was named Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2023 after Houston finished 10–7, won the AFC South and took a playoff game. The next season, the Texans did it again, finishing 10–7, winning a second straight division title and adding another playoff win. In 2025, they finished 12–5, placed second in the division and still found a way to get another postseason victory.
The move mattered because it came only months after DeMeco Ryans was hired as head coach on January 31, 2023, with the franchise still trying to pull itself out of a stretch that had brought a combined 11–38–1 record from 2020 to 2022 and four different head coaches. Houston, the NFL’s youngest franchise after beginning play in 2002, also had Nick Caserio in place as general manager after he arrived in 2021 following 20 years with the Patriots organization from 2001 to 2020.
The Texans had already signaled their plan that spring by taking C.J. Stroud with the second overall pick before trading up for Anderson. It was a deliberate push, not a lucky break, and the results have held up through three seasons: a pass rusher who arrived as a premium draft investment, a quarterback taken one slot earlier, and a team that turned a long reset into real postseason relevance. Ryans returned to Houston after having played for the Texans and later being traded to the Eagles in 2012, and the franchise has moved in step with that return ever since.
