How Texans' signing Danielle Hunter will unlock new ways to rush passer

Just imagine what it's going to look like for the Texans with NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Will Anderson Jr. and free agent signing Danielle Hunter rushing the edges for Houston.

Hunter is a four-time Pro Bowl player and was second-team All-Pro in 2018. Last season, Hunter had a career-high 16.5 sacks.

Texans defensive coordinator Matt Burke spoke on how Hunter's presence allows them unlock ways to manipulate pass protections.

"I would just say that any time you have a rusher like him that is going to command attention from an offense, it just changes protections and how you do things, and that just sort of unlocks other parts of the rush I guess I would say. So, when we are looking to attack protections, probably the biggest thing is just how predictable can you get the protection? It’s like anything in football: If you know what the other team is doing or have a good sense that the percentages are pretty high that they’re going to do it this way, you have an answer for that.

"So, if they’re focusing attention on [Danielle] Hunter or Will [Anderson Jr.] or whoever, it sort of unlocks some more things that we can do or how we manipulate some of those protections. So, I think just having his presence and his history of what he’s done in the league, I think teams are going to have to account for where he is and how we’re using him and kind of how we play off that is just going to be on us. But really, all those guys – Denico [Autry] is a unique style rusher. Again, Will [Anderson Jr.], Mario [Edwards Jr.], all the guys we have, we can move pieces around. I think it’s just trying to put guys in different spots to either dictate protections or to win matchups that we like."