The Houston Texans entered last season with one of the best receiving corps in football. Stefon Diggs brought a veteran presence and had proven himself as one of the league’s premier pass catchers. Nico Collins was emerging as an up-and-coming star, and Tank Dell proved to be a rising game-breaker. But much has changed since the start of last year.
Diggs is now in New England with the New England Patriots. Dell is sidelined with an injury that will keep him out for the entirety of this season. And Collins is now clearly the No. 1 option at the helm of the wide receiver room. He does have a pair of high-upside rookies alongside him, and the Texans also have another reliable pass-catching weapon in Dalton Schultz. But this group isn’t what it was a year ago.
In the future, it could be, especially if some of the young talent develops, but right now it simply isn’t.
A major storyline to follow this season will be how quickly those two rookies, Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel, can emerge. Christian Kirk is another veteran piece who, once he returns from injury, can provide some level of production — though it’s still unclear how much he has left in the tank. Braxton Berrios is another veteran who, in theory, could be helpful, but he isn’t a difference-maker.
Overall, it seems to come down to whether these rookies can step up and become bona fide co-wide receiver twos this season. They were excellent together at Iowa State last year, and it’s rare to see two standout college teammates drafted by the same NFL team. That’s exactly what happened here with the Texans.
There are a lot of factors that will determine whether Houston can be a true contender this year, but the development of Noel and Higgins could be the single most important one. If they both look like rookies by season’s end and haven’t yet come into their own, that could be a problem. But if one or both prove to be those first-year wideouts who make an immediate high-level impact — which isn’t rare in today’s NFL — then it changes everything for the Texans and an offense that already struggled in Week 1.
That rookie duo only combined for 39 receiving yards in Week 1, but Monday night against Tampa Bay is a new opportunity they will look to take advantage of.