HOUSTON – A storm is coming,
Tim Settle Jr. swears opponents are going to know they’ve been in a fight when they square off with him in the trenches.
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In the rough-and-tumble world at the line of scrimmage, Settle carries an old-school mentality to work. When it comes to competition, Settle is operating with mayhem on his mind. There’s discipline within all of that fury, but, make no mistake, the Texans’ defensive tackle is seriously fired up.
He can’t wait for the real games to start as he heads into a pivotal contract year while. He’s coming off arguably the best season of his seven-year NFL career, but he’s anything but satisfied. Bull rush, speed to power, rip moves, whatever the method, Settle is getting after people.
“I’m gonna try to run through you,” Settle told KPRC 2. “I’m not really hard to figure out. I’ll do an iron sharpen iron. I’m bringing my sledgehammer and I’m bringing my lunch pail. I try to see what anybody that thinks they are good, O-linemen or anybody that thinks they’re worth something, I’m going to come devalue you."
Bold, confident words certainly, but is capable of backing them up.
A year ago, he started a career-high 11 of 17 games played and recorded a career-high 31 tackles and 10 quarterback hits while tying a career-high with five sacks for his highest pass rush total since 2020 when he was playing for the Washington Commanders.
There’s an evolving consistency with Settle to go with all the power and strength and quickness he holds within a 6-foot-3, 313-pound frame. From a technique standpoint and knowledge of coach DeMeco Ryans’ aggressive 4-3 scheme, Settle has emerged as a player the Texans are counting on heavily.
“With Tim, what I’ve seen is him get more familiar with how we do things,” Ryans said. “It’s just a matter of him being consistent, doing it right every single time. When Tim does that, he has the power, he has the strength to knock guys back, reset the line of scrimmage and he’s athletic enough as a pass rusher to really disrupt the quarterback. So, Tim’s just about being locked in consistently, doing things right consistently and he should be an impact player for us.”
It’s hard to say something has really changed dramatically about Settle. The changes in him are subtle. He’s matured on and off the field. He’s still has a jovial, fun-loving personality, but he definitely has a serious tone when it comes to doing his work. A Manassas, Va., native and a former five-star recruit from Stonewall Jackson High School who stayed close to home to attend Virginia Tech over a scholarship offer from USC, Settle is getting better and better at 28 years old.
"I’m just at a point in my life where I just accept the coaching," Settle said. “I feel like they’ve been teaching this for so long, I feel like everybody has room to get better. So just taking the coaching real serious and just being correctable and being able to to pick up on the little things as using my hands and being able to know who I’m going against. Utilize my one-on-ones, just utilize pressing the pocket."
Settle considers himself one of the top interior pass rushers in the NFL and has a ton of nicknames for his moves, including a “thrash rush,” a powerful bull rush to collapse the pocket. Settle has a fun-loving, outspoken personality in the locker room. He doesn’t hold back on his opinions and frequently displays a sense of humor.
“Tim Settle, I don’t know if you guys have spent a lot of time with him, I feel like his personality belies his intelligence sometimes,” defensive coordinator Matt Burke said. “You have an impression of him. You don’t think of defensive tackles that often, but just his awareness of the blocks he’s getting and the protections. And I mean, we do a lot. Sometimes, you don’t want your defensive tackles to think too much, but Tim’s just shown a really good job of being able to grasp sort of big-picture stuff.”
Off the field, Settle has displayed growth. He’s become more involved in the community through his personal philanthropy.
“I feel like maturity comes over time,” Settle said. “I feel like when I was younger it took me a while to understand and get the grasp of it, but I think the older you get, things start to slow down for you.
“You kind of pinpoint the things that you want, the things that you need and you can definitely drive from that area. I just want to put a smile on people’s faces. A lot of people are stressed.”
Settle isn’t alone in his pursuit of the quarterback. He’s flanked by Pro Bowl bookend pass rushers Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson Jr. He’s part of a deep interior group that includes Sheldon Rankins, Foley Fatukasi and Mario Edwards Jr..
“It’s a standard,” Settle said. “You got to play at the level of the standard. I feel like a lot of guys feel that energy. If they’re not there, they got to pull themselves up. If they’re there, they got to stay up. So, it’s falling to the level of our training.
“If everybody’s doing what they’re supposed to, we could be real lethal. Like I said, we got to play four as one. We got to play competitive football.”
It’s a mentality as much as anything. Sure, there’s skill involved. And there’s a matter of imposing their collective will on offenses.
“Like D-Hunt said, suffocate,” Settle said. “I think more of pressure, like a migraine, like a sinus infection or something. Something that you can’t get rid of, something that you got to just deal with. You got to go to sleep to get over it.”
As a team, the Texans have won consecutive division titles. They’re also, as an all-time franchise, 0-6 in the divisional round of the playoffs as the lone AFC team to never reach the AFC championship game. A bitter playoff loss to the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium ended the Texans’ season last January.
"Just us playing together is one, first of all, and just picking up from where we left off last year,“ Settle said. ”I feel like we left a lot of plays out there we could have made that were kind of close. But just stacking the year, being able to pick up where we were left off of, and just being able to win, that’s all the only thing on our mind."
At Virginia Tech, Settle finished with four sacks and 19 1/2 tackles for losses as a second-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection before declaring early for the draft in 2018. He became a starter one year after Washington picked him in the fifth round. In the fifth week of the 2019 season, he got his first career sack on New England Patriots quarterback legend Tom Brady.
While he had some success at his next stop with the Buffalo Bills, it didn’t come close to how he thrived in Ryans’ scheme last season.
Settle has become more and more focused, on and off the field. He no longer needs as much of a support system as he once did as he was trying to find his way and organize his life. He emphasized he’s got things figured out.
“I’m just in a stage in my life where I know what to do,” Settle said. “I had done this for so long, I had had success for all seasons. I just feel like once you get a routine, once you get something down and you know it works, you stick with it and you adjust to the things that you want to adjust to."
Settle is noticeably leaner this season. He’s in good shape and plays with a ton of energy. It’s been evident in how he runs to the football.
“I keep the proteins, I choose my carbs properly but this is everything,” Settle said. “That’s coming in shape, staying with my weight down, not worried about getting hurt. It’s being available, just being here. I feel like the longer I can be available throughout training camp into the season, the best me is yet to come.”
Another good season could set Settle up quite nicely. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent after the season. He’s locked in on the upcoming season, but there’s a level of mutual interest between the Texans and Settle in potentially extending their relationship. That’s all for future conversations, but Settle is happy in Texas in the final year of a two-year, $7 million contract.
"I love Houston," Settle said. “I feel like they kind of gave me a little more light on myself. I feel I got a team behind me that’s confident in my abilities to be able to help this team win. I’m going to play for them, I’m gonna play for this team.
“I’ll play for the city, state of Texas, whatever it is, you now, that’s just my thing, I’m here to play football, I am here to win. As long as we’re playing competitive football and the defensive line is the defense’s engine, and we’re doing what we’re supposed to do week in and week out, the sky’s the limit.”
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com
