DeMeco Ryans led the NFL in solo tackles en route to capturing Defensive Rookie of the Year honors last season.

After that kind of debut, Houston Texans coaches can't wait to see what the middle linebacker does for his second act.

"Knowing the person that DeMeco is, I know his play is definitely going to pick up," linebackers coach Johnny Holland said. "Last year was a learning year for him and he played off a lot of his natural instincts and athletic ability. The second time around I expect him to make more big plays and start out a lot faster than he did last year. I'm excited to see where he can go with this."

Ryans had 126 solo tackles, his 156 total tackles were the most by a rookie in the last 20 years and he had 3 1/2 sacks. But perhaps more impressive than those numbers was his ability to immediately become a leader on Houston's young defense.

It's an accomplishment he takes very seriously and is focused on building.

"I think I can do a better job of communicating with the guys, knowing that I'm the guy in the middle," he said. "Guys are going to look up to me. I want to be a leader by example."  READ MORE