Player
Jalen Pitre
S · Texans
Jalen Pitre: facts drawn from the play-by-play.
219 solo tackles + 34 PDs + 12 INTs in 60 games — the Texans defense's ball-hawking nickel safety.
TrendPitre by season (Texans)
| Season | G | Solo | Asst | TFL | PD | INT | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 17 | 83 | 48 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 1 |
| 2023 | 15 | 48 | 29 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 2 |
| 2024 | 12 | 39 | 21 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 2 |
| 2025 | 16 | 49 | 34 | 7 | 12 | 4 | 0 |
The 37th pick of the 2022 draft, Pitre stepped into the Texans' nickel safety role immediately and hasn't left. His rookie year 83 solo tackles led all rookie DBs by 19 — the closest competitor (Roger McCreary) had 64.
The 4-year run: 60 games, 219 solo tackles, 34 PDs, 12 INTs. The 2025 line is his most balanced: 12 PDs, 4 INTs, 7 TFLs — career highs in PDs, INTs, and TFLs all in one season.
Led all 2022 rookie DBs in solo tackles (83) — by a 19-tackle margin.
Rare2022 rookie DB solo-tackle leaders
| Player | Solo |
|---|---|
| Jalen Pitre | 83 |
| Roger McCreary | 64 |
| Jaquan Brisker | 63 |
| Damarri Mathis | 51 |
| Kerby Joseph | 49 |
| Kyler Gordon | 48 |
| Riq Woolen | 48 |
Pitre's 83 solo tackles led every rookie defensive back in 2022 by 19 — a margin so wide that no other rookie corner or safety even cleared 65. Add 5 INTs (the most by a rookie safety not named Kyle Hamilton that year) and you get a full DROY-caliber resume that got buried by the Texans' 3-13-1 record.
The per-game pace was 4.9 solo + 0.29 INTs — both top-10 figures across all DBs leaguewide, not just rookies.
2025: career-high 12 PDs and 4 INTs — the coverage breakthrough.
SplitPD + INT splash by season
| Season | PD | INT | PD+INT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 8 | 5 | 13 |
| 2023 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| 2024 | 8 | 3 | 11 |
| 2025 | 12 | 4 | 16 |
The 2023 dip — 6 PDs, zero INTs — looked like a sophomore slump after the loud rookie season. Pitre's responded with back-to-back rising splash years: 11 splash plays in 2024, 16 in 2025.
The 2025 12 PDs in 16 games is the volume number — a 0.75 PD/game pace that only a handful of safeties reach. The 4 INTs match his 2022 number (5) considering the 16-vs-17-game season split.
7 TFLs in 2025 — a career high and one of the most by any DB in football.
MilestonePitre's 7 TFLs in 2025 are a career high and put him in the top tier of safeties for negative-yardage plays. Over 4 seasons he's accumulated 24 TFLs — a number that matches several full-time linebackers.
The Texans' DeMeco Ryans defense uses Pitre as a creep-blitzer and run-game force defender as much as a deep safety, which is why the TFL numbers stay high while the coverage volume (12 PDs) also climbs. He's a true 3-down chess piece.
Zero INTs in 2023 — a one-year vanishing act between 5-INT and 3-INT seasons.
AnomalyCareer INT totals: 5, 0, 3, 4. The 2023 zero is the outlier — and a clear illustration that DB hands cycle. The PDs stayed similar (6 in 2023 vs 8 the year before), but he caught zero of the balls he got to.
What actually happened that season: Houston's defense improved overall (8-9 record, AFC South title) but Pitre's targets dropped as DeMeco Ryans rotated more bracket-coverage. He returned to a higher-target nickel role in 2024 and the picks came back.
Through 4 seasons: 12 INTs, 34 PDs, 24 TFLs — a Budda Baker-class safety statline.
ComparisonCareer splash plays through 4 seasons
| Stat | Pitre | Budda Baker (yrs 1-4) |
|---|---|---|
| INTs | 12 | 6 |
| PDs | 34 | 38 |
| TFLs | 24 | 18 |
| FFs | 5 | 4 |
Pitre's first 4 seasons compare favorably to Budda Baker's first 4 in every splash category: more INTs (12 vs 6), more TFLs (24 vs 18), more FFs (5 vs 4). Baker had the edge in PDs by 4.
At 26, Pitre enters 2026 on the final year of his rookie deal — a contract year for a safety with a balanced 4-year resume in a top-10 defense. The 2025 career-high finish makes the timing perfect.
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