Texans’ Danielle Hunter relentlessly chased and caught Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence: ‘We just locked in’

HOUSTON – Danielle Hunter manhandled Jacksonville Jaguars left offensive tackle Walker Little, overwhelming him with his speed, power, technique and muscle.

It was a flex from the Texans’ chiseled star defensive end as the Morton Ranch graduate unleashed a ton of heat on Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence.

Hunter relentlessly chased and caught Lawrence, delivering a flawless performance in a 36-29 comeback victory Sunday at NRG Stadium. He tied a career-high with 3 1/2 sacks, a season-high eight pressures with a 28.6 percent pressure rate, per Next Gen Stats. He finished the game with seven tackles, four tackles for losses and four quarterback hits with one forced fumble.

“I mean, we just played together as a defense,” Hunter told KPRC 2. “Defensive line, we played together. I wouldn’t have been able to do what I did if it wasn’t for my defensive line doing their part. So, we just play together.”

Hunter had a pressure rate over 25 percent for the first time this season and tied for the second-most sacks in franchise history. He has 14 career forced fumbles, passing Nick Bosa for the third-most by any defensive lineman since 2015. His six games with at least three sacks are tied for the most in the NFL since 2015.

Earlier this season, Hunter had a quiet game in a loss to the Jaguars with no stats. He’s now up to 7 1/2 sacks and two forced fumbles for the season.

The defense didn’t do it alone.

Texans backup quarterback Davis Mills, the replacement for concussed starter C.J. Stroud, won the game on a 14-yard scramble for a touchdown.

He had two touchdown passes, overcoming an early interception, and led the Texans on four red-zone touchdown drives out of five opportunities.

“He’s doing an incredible job, man,” Hunter said. “I remember, I told him, ‘Man, you got a great defense,’ and he just went up from there on.”

In the fourth quarter, the Jaguars mustered only 11 yards of total offense.

The Texans finished with five sacks overall.

“They did an outstanding job and Danielle had one of his best games,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “So, I’m really proud of the effort up front and how those guys rushed. That was our plan, and we executed it the right way. When we needed it most, there at the end of the game, they came up big-time for us.”

When the Texans’ top-ranked scoring and overall defense needed to be at their best, they simply were.

“I feel like we just locked in,” Hunter said. “I felt like we had a feeling in the game that we’re gonna come out on top and we just lock in all together and just kept playing.”

Hunter now has 107 career sacks, ranking 35th on the all-time NFL charts.

It w as Hunter who sacked Lawrence on first down. Then, Pro Bowl defensive end Will Anderson Jr. sacked Lawrence and forced a fumble defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins grabbed out of the air and rumbled for a touchdown as time expired.

“The key for our entire game today is no one blinked,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “I talked to the guys last night about it’s going to be a heavyweight fight, and we got to keep throwing punches no matter how it looks. It may look rough, it doesn’t matter. I didn’t want anybody to blink. I wanted everybody to continue to press forward, to keep punching and that’s what they did.”

Hunter has a rare blend of strength, speed, athleticism, power, making him one of the most dominant pass rushers in the game.

He became the second-highest paid defensive end in the NFL behind Cleveland Browns star Myles Garrett after the Texans struck a one-year, $35.6 million extension that includes a $55.1 million in total payout over the next two years during the offseason. The deal includes $32 million in 2025 that’s fully guaranteed for skill, injury and salary cap, including a $20 million signing bonus, with 98 percent ($54.1 million total) of the contract fully guaranteed.

The deal was negotiated by Zeke Sandhu of Klutch Sports.

Playing for his hometown team after signing a two-year, $51 million free agent deal last year, Hunter was named to his fifth Pro Bowl last year as a replacement for injured Las Vegas Raiders star Maxx Crosby.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” Hunter said. “Getting to play in front of my family and friends. There’s a lot of people who weren’t able to do that, so being able to come here and play in front of my family, it motivated me a lot. The biggest thing is knowing next year all of that will be here and I’m more comfortable and know what to expect.”

Hunter started every game last season and recorded a team-high 17 tackles for losses and 12 sacks. He had 90 quarterback pressures, ranking him second in the NFL, per Next Gen Stats. He had three sacks in one half in the 12th game of the season.

Hunter formed a formidable tandem with Anderson.

“Man, looking back at the season, I feel like Will he ranks up there, the kind of person he is, the kind of player he is, that’s a once-in-a-generation type of player,” Hunter said. “The stuff he’s done, it’s been impressive. I’ve never seen that from a player that young in their career.”

Hunter has emerged as the master of the Euro step pass rushing move and many other strategies that have befuddled opposing linemen and the quarterbacks they’re paid handsomely to protect.

Although he’s a chiseled 6-foot-5, 263-pound defensive lineman who represents the prototype for an NFL pass rusher, Hunter has a smooth, loose way of getting after the quarterback that belies a frame that looks like it was carved out of granite. His body-fat percentage is lower than most cornerbacks and wide receivers.

What was that move against Detroit Lions offensive tackle Penei Sewell?

“That’s actually a jab step,” Hunter told KPRC 2. “That’s just something I’ve been doing over the years. I’ve kind of perfected it, almost perfected it. I’m still trying to work on it. It comes with pass rushing, setting up your opponents, setting up your tackles.”

Hunter hit the quarterback a lot last season, leading the team with 23 quarterback hits ahead of Anderson’s 19. He had 46 total tackles.

“Really for me, the biggest thing was improving as the season went on,” Hunter said. “It was a new defense for me, trying to figure it out. As the season went on, more and more figuring out how to implement my skills into the defense. Now, I know what to expect. It was a year for me to figure out the defense and how things are played. Now, I know what to expect in the offseason and what to train for.

“It’s been fun, being able to go out there and play football again with my past experience. To play football, it means a lot. The biggest thing to look forward to is understanding where the team is at and what we’ll do next year.”

Hunter’s skills leave teammates wowed.

“I shake my head every play that I’m lining up next to this dude who looks like a mannequin and plays like he’s running track,” Texans defensive tackle Tim Settle Jr said. “You go off him and he’s going to lead you the ball. He sets stuff off. The more he stresses offense, the more it loosens things up for everyone.”

With a low-key personality and a humble approach to football and life, Hunter doesn’t beat his chest with pride.

Hunter has run the 40-yard dash in 4.57 seconds with a 36 1/2 inch vertical leap, a 10-10 broad jump and has bench pressed 225 pounds 25 times. He has every physical trait an NFL team could cover in a pass rusher.

Whether it’s the Euro step, spin move, cross-chop, bull-rush, swim move or just a pure speed rush, Hunter, 30, is a dominant force whatever move he chooses to employ on any given snap or Sunday. He’s at the peak of his game and physical ability.

The Texans don’t have to do much with Hunter, just cut him loose and listen to him.

“He’ll always say to me, ‘Man, let me cook, let me cook,” Texans defensive coordinator Matt Burke said.

One of the smartest investments, Texans general manager Nick Caserio has made was signing Hunter and extending him.

Lots of pass rushers are long-armed, tall and fast like Hunter.

Few can match his imagination and intellect. His vision for creative moves and his passion for the game, relentlessly chasing down quarterbacks are rare traits.

Figuring out how to generate explosiveness off the football and time up the snap count without jumping offsides is another plus for Hunter.

“The biggest thing is I just go by getting off the ball,” Hunter said. “Me being a vet, I know how to dissect my guy. Th biggest thing I do out there is dissect my guy.

Spoken like a true surgeon at his craft.

Does he have a favorite move? Not really. Whatever gets him into the backfield and reaching his destination, zeroing in to apply heat on the quarterback, at the top of his rush.

“Not really,” Hunter said. “My best thing is to just go. Find a way. Whatever your God gives you, adapt and find a way to the quarterback.”

At Morton Ranch, Hunter emerged as a blue-chip recruit on the football field who doubled as an extremely fast 400-meter runner who also excelled in the high jump.

At the time, he was roughly 6-foot-5, 225 pounds. Hunter hasn’t lost speed over the years while gaining roughly 40 pounds of muscle.

“Just doing what I can do to get better,” Hunter said.

When asked if he’s reached his prime, Hunter considered the question. The idea that this perhaps this is as good as he’s going to be physically didn’t coincide with his way of thinking.

“I always try to keep improving,” Hunter said. “I don’t ever become complacent. I’m always trying to learn. The biggest thing at this point of my career is to keep learning. I don’t ever look at myself as if I know everything. I try to learn and get better.”

The Texans had a specific vision for how Hunter would fit into Ryans’ traditional 4-3 scheme that emphasizes creating a ton of pressure with the defensive line.

“They definitely told me they wanted to help me out with my playing style,” Hunter said. “I believed in that. I came here and they taught me a lot of things to help my game get to the next level. That’s the biggest thing is making my play and the people around me better.”

Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud is simply glad that he doesn’t have to compete against Hunter.

And he marvels at how Hunter engulfs quarterbacks. He rarely draws holding calls, too. That reminds Stroud of how NBA superstar LeBron James doesn’t always get the calls in his favor.

“That dude is special, man,” Stroud said. “I think, honestly, like who he is at practice too helps us as a team. He don’t take no plays off. I think that is just iron sharpening iron, Proverbs 20:17 is one of DeMeco’s mottos: ‘Iron sharpens iron, and so does another man sharpening another.’ In the world. You can do it in football as well. Who he is on Sundays, is who he is during the week. No surprise, but I got to watch little more this week, which was amazing.

“I even feel like against a couple other teams, he is getting held a lot. There is no calls. His presence is felt. Now, I understand why LeBron got so many foul calls until he became a Laker. Now, I see why he gets so many fouls is that he is so dominant, and you have to hold him or you have to do something to stop a fast break. Same thing with Danielle. He is so dominant that you have to do something to chip him or do something to knock him off his game. I’m not saying he LeBron, but he’s up there though, for sure.”

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com .