When it was first reported that the Pittsburgh Steelers were visiting with free-agent cornerback Asante Samuel Jr., nobody was surprised that Mike Tomlin was interested in acquiring the talented cornerback… and it’s not just because the Steelers had a need at the CB position.
Over the years, it’s become increasingly clear that Tomlin values strong NFL bloodlines. And his team put this on display once again when Pittsburgh officially signed Samuel Jr. to the practice squad.
Tomlin and the Steelers expressed interest in Samuel ahead of the 2021 NFL Draft, and taking the former Florida State Seminole in the first round was on the table. Eventually, Samuel fell out of the first round and landed with the Los Angeles Chargers with the 47th overall pick in the second round.
Sadly, in his fourth NFL season, Samuel suffered a neck injury during a collision in practice, which ultimately required a spinal fusion surgery in April 2025. Now we’ve learned that the Steelers’ team doctor, Dr. David Okonkwo, performed the surgery, per NFL insider Ian Rapoport.
Since Samuel Jr. hit free agency after his rookie contract expired during the 2025 offseason, all signs pointed to Pittsburgh… and it’s easy to see why.
Asante Samuel Jr. is the son of former NFL All-Pro and four-time Pro Bowl cornerback Asante Samuel, who is most known for his impressive performances with the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles during the 2000s.
So when his son began to follow in his footsteps, it was only a matter of time before Coach Tomlin took notice. One year after passing on Samuel in the 2021 NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers selected Joey Porter Jr. with the 32nd overall pick in the 2025 draft—the son of Steelers legend Joey Porter.
It’s not just the sons of former NFL superstars that Tomlin has gone after over the years; it’s any strong NFL bloodlines. In 2022, the Steelers briefly made history by having four sets of brothers on their 90-man roster (Cam and Conner Heyward, T.J. and Derek Watt, Trey and Terrell Edmunds, and Carlos and Khalil Davis).
Samuel Jr. has been cleared to play, but he will begin his NFL comeback on the practice squad. Despite his underwhelming size (5’10”, 180 pounds), Samuel Jr. has been almost exclusively a boundary cornerback during his first four seasons with the Chargers.
If all goes well, Samuel could earn a promotion to the active roster if he can get up to speed over the next few weeks and begin to carve out a role on defense. With the Steelers’ need at cornerback and Tomlin’s love for NFL family connections, signing Asante Samuel Jr. was a move fans saw coming a mile away.
Houston Texans edge rusher Danielle Hunter has played 145 career regular season the games. The 31-year-old is a former All-Pro, a five-time Pro Bowler and is one of just 46 players in league history with at least 100 career quarterback sacks. We start with this biographical breakdown because it provides perspective for the relatively bold statement I’m about to make… Hunter’s 145th career regular season game
Consider: there have been six instances in the career of Danielle Hunter when he’s finished a game with at least 3 sacks. In just two of those games, Hunter had at least 4 QB hits. And just once — Week 10 against the Jacksonville Jaguars — has Hunter reached those statistical milestones while also registering at least 4 tackles for loss.
Add it all up, and we have one of the most dominant games you’ll ever see from an edge rusher, and again, Hunter is 31 years old and nearly 150 games into his NFL career. Having a peak performance at this juncture of his career is abnormal to say the least. You could say, it’s nearly as abnormal as a UFO sighting, but according to Texans center Jake Andrews, that’s practically what Hunter’s teammates were seeing from the sideline on Sunday afternoon.
“Did you expect anything less? I mean, the guys a monster! Have you seen him? He’s a mutant, man,” Andrews told reporters after the game. “He’s obviously played this long for a good reason, and he still produces like he’s a young buck. He’s awesome. He’s awesome to have in the locker room, he’s a great guy. Really happy for him.”
If the presence of Danielle Hunter on one side of the defense isn’t frightening enough, having Will Anderson Jr. on the opposite side is certainly enough to send a shiver down the spine of any opposing quarterback. Hunter paced the Texans last Sunday with 3.5 sacks, but Anderson was the one who came in for the game-clinching strip sack, knocking the ball loose from the hands of Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence on the final play of the contest.
Together, Hunter and Anderson have gotten to opposing quarterbacks 14.5 times this season. They’ve forced 4 combined fumbles and stopped 18 plays behind the line of scrimmage. It’s a duo that has been as good as advertised, and is well on their way to matching their production from the 2024 season, when they combined for 23 sacks and 33 tackles for loss.
“Will and Danielle, they’re definitely a scary force on the edge and two of the best edge rushers in the league,” Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans said this week, per Jared Koch. “We’re blessed to have both of those guys as rushers on our team.”