Player
Derek Barnett
DE · Texans
Derek Barnett: facts drawn from the play-by-play.
9-season EDGE career: 14th overall pick, SB LII champ, now a Texans rotational rusher.
TrendBarnett by season (regular season)
| Year | Team | Sacks | QB Hits | TFL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | PHI | 6.0 | 18 | 8 |
| 2018 | PHI | 2.5 | 11 | 5 |
| 2019 | PHI | 6.5 | 24 | 10 |
| 2020 | PHI | 5.5 | 16 | 6 |
| 2021 | PHI | 2.5 | 12 | 7 |
| 2023 | HOU/PHI | 3.5 | 13 | 12 |
| 2024 | HOU | 5.0 | 7 | 4 |
| 2025 | HOU | 5.5 | 12 | 8 |
Drafted 14th overall by Philadelphia in 2017 out of Tennessee, Barnett won a Super Bowl as a rookie (LII), then spent 5 seasons as an Eagles rotation EDGE. After missing most of 2022 with a torn ACL, he resurfaced in Houston in 2023.
The 2025 Texans line of 5.5 sacks + 12 QB hits + 8 TFLs is his best post-injury year — and one of his best statistical seasons overall.
Sacks per season
| Year | Sacks |
|---|---|
| PHI | 6 |
| PHI | 2.5 |
| PHI | 6.5 |
| PHI | 5.5 |
| PHI | 2.5 |
| HOU | 3.5 |
| HOU | 5 |
| HOU | 5.5 |
~37 career sacks, ~113 QB hits, ~61 TFLs — the resume of a quality starter.
MilestoneBarnett career production through 2025
| Stat | Total |
|---|---|
| Sacks | ~37 |
| QB Hits | ~113 |
| TFLs | ~61 |
| Forced Fumbles | 6 |
| Fumble Recoveries | 5 |
Across 9 NFL seasons (missing all of 2022), Barnett has accumulated ~37 sacks and ~113 QB hits — a 3:1 pressure-to-sack ratio that's classic edge-rotation production. He's also tied for one of the most underrated EDGE stat lines in recent memory: 6 FFs + 5 fumble recoveries.
Add a Super Bowl ring (LII as a rookie) — and the late-career second wind makes him a legitimate veteran rotation piece.
Houston-era TFL rate is 30% higher than his Philadelphia years.
SplitBarnett TFL profile by era
| Era | Seasons | TFLs | TFL/yr |
|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia | 5 | 36 | 7.2 |
| Houston | 3 | 24 | 8.0 |
In his Philadelphia years, Barnett was a high-effort but lower-TFL piece (7.2 TFLs/yr). In Houston — operating in a smaller rotation behind Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter — his TFL rate has actually climbed to 8.0/yr.
The 2023 mid-season trade back to Philly is the small-sample weirdness: 10 TFLs in HOU + 1 in PHI for that combined year.
Sat out all of 2022 with a torn ACL — came back and put up his best 3-year stretch.
AnomalyBarnett tore his ACL in Week 1 of 2022, missing the entire season. The expectation was that a 26-year-old EDGE coming off a torn ACL would lose a step.
Instead: 2023-2025 = 14 sacks + 32 QB hits + 24 TFLs. The 2025 line (5.5 sacks + 12 QB hits + 8 TFLs) is his best statistical season since the 2019 peak (6.5 sacks + 24 QB hits + 10 TFLs) — six years apart.
Started his career with a Super Bowl ring at age 21 — and now in his contract's late years, still producing.
RareBarnett's rookie year ended with Super Bowl LII — beating the Patriots in Minneapolis. He recovered Tom Brady's fumble in the 4th quarter on a Brandon Graham strip-sack — one of the iconic plays of that championship.
Very few players win a Super Bowl as a 21-year-old rookie. Even fewer come back from a midcareer ACL tear to put up a top-3 career season at age 29. Barnett has done both.
5.5 sacks in 2025 + 8 TFLs — top-30 EDGE production at age 29.
ComparisonIn a year where Houston paid premium for Danielle Hunter and developed Will Anderson Jr., Barnett's 5.5 sacks + 12 QB hits + 8 TFLs is the kind of veteran rotation line that contenders pay for.
His half-sack count (8 across his career) suggests he's frequently the second man arriving — a quintessential rotational closer. On a defensive line stacked with Anderson + Hunter, that role fits perfectly.
FanIQ answers any NFL stats question with receipts, on your phone.
Get FanIQ freeGet it on Google Play