Throughout the 2025 NFL season, SB Nation’s Doug Farrar will write about the game’s Secret Superstars — those players whose performances might slip under the radar for whatever reasons. In this installment, it’s time to investigate the curious case of Cowboys edge-rusher James Houston, who has put up amazing pressure numbers with too few opportunities for years. Maybe the pass rush-desperate Cowboys will give Houston the chance he’s gone above and beyond to earn?
Some people need to prove themselves more than others.
In the case of James Houston, the Cowboys’ edge-rusher who signed a one-year, $2.175 million contract with no guaranteed money this offseason, respect has taken far longer than it should have. Selected in the sixth round of the 2022 draft by the Detroit Lions, Houston wasn’t activated from the practice squad to play in a game until Detroit’s Thanksgiving Day game against the Buffalo Bills. Houston got two sacks in that game, and added sacks in his next three games against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Minnesota Vikings, and New York Jets.
With that, Houston put himself in rare air among sack artistes in NFL annals.
Houston ended his rookie season with eight sacks and 17 total pressures on just 92 pass-rushing snaps, and the future seemed bright. Hell, he made my All-Underrated Team coming into the 2023 season after that.
In 2023, Houston suffered a leg injury in Week 2 that put him on injured reserve, and the Lions released him on November 26, 2024 — despite the one sack and 13 total pressures he put up on just 84 pass-rushing snaps. The Browns signed him off waivers the next day, and found little use for him, putting Houston on the field for just 25 defensive snaps and 15 pass-rushing snaps overall. Houston somehow managed two quarterback hurries on that little stretch, which is about as much anybody could do.
Then, the Cowboys grabbed him on July 22, 2025, and this would seem to be Houston’s ideal opportunity, given the Micah Parsons departure and the fact that Dallas currently ranks 31st in Defensive DVOA, and 29th in Adjusted Sack Rate, without their former superstar. Houston has done his level best to prove the point, with four sacks and eight total pressures — including two sacks and five total pressures in Dallas’ 37-22 Sunday win over the New York Jets — on just 23 pass-rushing snaps, which was his highest single-game total of the season.
Houston has just 54 pass-rushing snaps this season, and he’s gone over 10 in just two games.
This odd phenomenon goes back to Houston’s college days, by the way. He began his collegiate career with Florida, and as an off-ball linebacker and occasional edge defender, he put up four sacks and 12 total pressures… in 15 pass-rush snaps. All four of his quarterback takedowns that season came on blitzes or containment plays, but still…
Houston transferred to Jackson State before the 2020 season, and the one team that gave him ample opportunities to do what he does best was rewarded beyond measure — Houston put up 20 sacks and 75 total pressures for the Tigers in 364 pass-rushing reps.
You’d think you’d want a guy like this on the field as much as possible given the Cowboys’ pass-rush woes, but what do we know? Houston leads the 2025 Cowboys in sacks, and while four defenders — Osa Odighizuwa, Kenny Clark, Dante Fowler Jr., and Sam Williams — have more pressures than Houston’s eight, those guys all have more than 100 pass-rushing snaps each.
Well, maybe defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus is finally getting the idea.
It’s not as if Houston is some sort of one-trick pony, either. He brings a wide array of pass-rush moves to the field, and he can disrupt both inside and outside.
“That’s what I do,” Houston said after the Jets game, when asked what it feels like to lead the team in sacks. “That’s what I go get. I got a goal of my own. I’m happy when everybody else go gets sacks. For me, that’s my job. When I see somebody else go get a sack, it’s exciting.“
Okay, what’s the goal? Houston said that he’d like to tally a sack per game for the Cowboys this season. It kinda looks like the only people capable of stopping from doing that are his own coaches.
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