Since the Detroit Lions took Aidan Hutchinson second overall in the 2022 NFL Draft, the search for another viable edge rusher has been ongoing. And despite the general lack of a significant move to get that done, this side of acquriing Za'Darius Smith at the 2024 trade deadline, it has not been due to a lack of effort.
In that same draft, the Lions used a top-50 overall pick on Josh Paschal. Unfortunately, injuries have been the primary story of his career from the word go. A back injury will cost him this entire season, and being in the final year of his contract his time with the team is likely nearly done.
In the sixth round of the 2022 draft, the Lions took a flier on a small school edge rusher. Besides his production in his final college season (16.5 sacks, 24.5 tackles for loss, seven forced fumbles), the other noteworthy thing about James Houston is that he did it playing for Deion Sanders at Jackson State.
Houston, as expected since he came out of an FCS school, spent the early part of his rookie seaon on the Lions' practice squad. He made his debut on Thanksgiving Day against the Buffalo Bills, and he sacked Josh Allen twice.
Houston would go on to total eight sacks over the final seven games of his rookie season. Even with some refinement to do in terms of being an all-around edge defender, it seemed the Lions had found something.
An ankle injury limited Houston to two games in 2023, so any videa he'd have a full-on breakout in his season never got anywhere. In 2024 the Lions tried hard to make him more than just a pass rusher, but it didn't happen. He was waived in the middle of the season, after he probably shouldn't have made the 53-man roster going into the season,
James Houston has recaptured his 2022 form in time for sneaky revenge game vs. the Lions
Houston was picked up off waivers by the Cleveland Browns, and he played three games for them late last season.
The Dallas Cowboys signed Houston just before 2025 training camp started. He has played in all 12 games for them so far this season, heading into Thursday night's game against the Lions, with 4.5 sacks, seven quarterback hits and five tackles for loss over 220 defensive snaps. His 72.0 pass rush grade from Pro Footbal Focus ranks 29th out of 106 qualified edge rushers entering Week 14.
The Cowboys of course needed to find some pass rush help after trading Micah Parsons. As Zachary Pereles of CBS Sports looked for one under the radar free agent signing that has helped each current playoff hopeful, Houston's performance to fill part of that void presumably stood above all other options for Dallas.
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"Houston had eight sacks as a rookie in 2022 but zero in 2023 and just one in 2024. The Cowboys took a chance on him, hoping he could rediscover at least some of that first-year form, and he has delivered: 4.5 sacks despite playing just 27% of Dallas' defensive snaps. His 13.6% pressure rate is solid, too, and he has helped out an edge rushing trio that badly needed it after Micah Parsons' departure."
With the Lions' pass rush struggling like it has been lately, Houston's impact on the Cowboys' pass rush will be something to keep an eye on during Thursday night's game. If nothing else, he'll have some unique motivation to show his former team what they're missing.