The rookie season of Houston Texans wide receiver Isaiah Coulter wasn’t the best, and it was sort of a wasted season, not in terms of learning the ropes of the NFL, but in terms of playing time on the field.
Coulter didn’t see much of the playing field on game day at all in 2020, as he was active for a total of three games his rookie season. Coulter was inactive for six games and was on the injured reserve beginning in Week 1 all the way through Week 5 due to a neck issue. The rest of the season he was listed on the inactive list, a total of six games.
Coulter’s rookie season began when he was a fifth-round pick (171st overall) by Bill O’Brien, and to be honest, following his injury, O’Brien’s firing and the fact the Houston Texans just weren’t any good, Coulter never had a real chance to showcase what he’s capable of achieving on an NFL field.
Will Coulter be the next DeAndre Hopkins or Andre Johnson … most likely not, but the former fifth-round pick needs more than six snaps to his credit to have a real shot at success, and hopefully with three preseason games, that will help the now second-year receiver.
Houston Texans: Isaiah Coulter can prove himself during training camp
With this being his first real training camp, Coulter hopefully will have more chances at making plays in practices and training camp games. Aaron Wilson, who covers the Texans, shared a video on his Twitter account from a practice this week. The video of Coulter is of him having some success and showcasing his talents as a wide receiver:
Texans' one-on-one drills @Millsions to @1z0__ pic.twitter.com/31gqk3qGQp
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) August 4, 2021
Moving from playing collegiately at Rhode Island to the NFL can’t be easy, and it must take a lot of determination because the level of competition is so much stronger and better than any that Coulter has faced before.
Granted, the Houston Texans aren’t the best team in the NFL, and the AFC South isn’t the best division in the entire league, but even the worst teams in the league are better than any competition faced in college. For fun, let’s look at some of Coulter’s college stats while at Rhode Island. In his final season at Rhode Island, Coulter collected 72 receptions for 1,039 yards and eight touchdowns.
As for which battles Coulter will be facing in 2021 against fellow wide receivers on the Texans, some names include Anthony Miller, Keke Coutee, Brandin Cooks, and rookie Nico Collins to name just a few. It is a given Miller and Cooks can be the best targets for any Texans quarterback, but Collins still has to prove himself, just like Coulter.
The longer the preseason and training camp goes, the more all of us will learn about Coulter and his ability to have success for the Texans, but at the very least he deserves more of a chance than he had a season ago.