With Injury Comes Opportunity at Wide Receiver for Texans

Can the Texans Make this Wide Receiver Room Work?

The first pass of the season for the Houston Texans landed in the hands of the least likely receiver on the team: C.J. Stroud. Hopefully, that never happens again.

Wednesday the team put Noah Brown on injured reserve. Brown will miss at least four weeks. That leaves the Texans with five wide receivers on the active roster and a few players on the practice squad. Let’s take a look at the position going forward.

Robert Woods

There seems to be plenty left in the tank for Robert Woods. He converted three third downs against the Ravens and had another one wiped out via penalty. He tied with Nico Collins for receptions with six and was right behind Collins on targets.

There isn’t a lot of dynamic ability to Woods right now, but he’s trusty. Reliable. In an offense that is going to ask C.J. Stroud to make throws in rhythm to spots on the field Woods is the type of player who can be trusted to be at those spots. I would think he continues to be a focal point when the Texans NEED something. At least until some of the younger wideouts settle into the offense.

Nico Collins

Sunday showed there is a clear path to Nico Collins being the best wide receiver on this team. He was targeted the most and made the biggest plays of the day among the wideouts. It was highlighted by his big catch on third down gaining 15 yards and setting up a fourth down attempt for Houston.

The 11 targets are the most in his career and the six receptions tied his previous high from last season. The 80 yards were just two shy of the most he’s had in a game in his short NFL career. He’s the player that’s going to be winning outside and deep for this team. If Collins can start to climb his way to legitimacy as an option at wide receiver it would go a long way to settling some of the fears of this offense.

Tank Dell

We didn’t see training camp Tank Dell and I was a little disappointed by that. Dell only had three catches with one wiped away due to a penalty. The catches though were for 10, 11, and 13 yards though. There’s clearly something dynamic there with Dell.

I would think some of the sideways passing ends up in Dell’s workload with Brown down. I also would love to see him used with some movement before the snap. There is something there with Dell, and while the volume might be hard to come by, he seems like he will make it count when he gets his chance.

Xavier Hutchinson

The rookie saw limited action in Baltimore but he got his first catch of his NFL career out of the way. I’m not sure where Hutchinson fits just yet, not while Woods and Collins are focal points on the outside. I don’t think he gets much of Brown’s workload either. Hutchinson should get some work when Woods or Collins needs a break.

John Metchie

I am more intrigued with John Metchie despite injuries forcing him to play catchup. His versatility plays well for where the Texans could use him. He returned to practice on Wednesday and should be active this weekend if he practices all week without issue. Expectations should be kept in check, but it would be nice to see some of that hopeful potential Metchie’s possessed for almost two years.

Practice Squad

Lance McCutcheon

Steven Sims

Johnny Johnson III

Jared Wayne

I wouldn’t expect any of these players to be factors this weekend. Perhaps Steven Sims pops up as a promotion from the practice squad, but there are probably more useful promotions from the practice squad for this matchup.

Going Forward

I don’t think in the many scenarios the Texans hoped the offense would go through would they think C.J. Stroud would be throwing the ball 44 times in the season opener. That’s nowhere near ideal. I’d think the rushing attack is more prominent. The running backs and Dalton Schultz will be involved in helping these wideouts too.

This group isn’t as poor as I initially believed but there’s a clear ceiling. Nico Collins and Tank Dell are the keys to raising the roof on what this group can achieve. Based on how the Jaguars attacked the Colts last weekend, this seems like the perfect opportunity to start changing the perception of this group.

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