When thinking about the Houston Texans wide receiver roster, besides Brandin Cooks, is there anyone else that can be a 1,000-yard receiver for the 2021 season? Is there anyone other than Cooks that is reliable enough to be the go-to guy in clutch situations?
Those are two questions that will eventually be answered this season, but for now, not many believe in the receivers of the Texans, and to be honest, they haven’t accomplished anything as a unit to be excited about right now.
The Houston Texans have potential to be better than many believe they are currently seeing them, but when it comes to power rankings before the first preseason game, the Houston Texans receivers are near the bottom of the list.
Over at FanSided’s NFL SpinZone, contributor Randy Gurzi has a quality power rankings list for NFL receiving corps and the Houston Texans rank in at 31st overall this preseason, which isn’t tough to argue.
Hey, at last the corps isn’t ranked last, which is a small victory in itself, right?
In the NFL SpinZone article, it states the following about the Texan wide receivers entering the ’21 season:
"“Outside of Cooks, there are a lot of question marks, and it will only look worse if they have to move on from Deshaun Watson.”"
It is safe to say the Texans are moving away from Deshaun Watson with how he’s being used in training camp, and how head coach David Culley seems to have a “no comment” answer or no answer of substance when it comes to the quarterback.
Houston Texans: A look at the current wide receiver roster this training camp
When it comes to wide receivers not named Brandin Cooks, the Houston Texans also have Anthony Miller, Nico Collins, Isaiah Coulter, Keke Coutee, Chris Moore, Taywan Taylor, Andre Roberts, Chris Conley, Damon Hazelton, Alex Anderson and Jordan Veasy on the training camp roster.
Gone are Will Fuller and Randall Cobb from last season due to free agency for Fuller and a recent trade to the Packers for Cobb, so yes, this isn’t the greatest wide receiver corps currently in the NFL, but there is some quiet potential in the lineup with Collins, Coulter and even Coutee.
Also others on the list could surprise when the preseason games begin, but it is tough to rank this unit any higher than where they were ranked. Collins in his rookie season could really make his mark, as he won’t have the top coverage and can also learn from the top receiver as he learns the ropes of the league.
Miller is an exciting addition to the team in ’21, as his addition not only allowed the Texans to trade Cobb, but this is an excellent time for Miller to shine as a slot receiver, even if Watson isn’t his quarterback.
As we keep saying with the ’21 Houston Texans, time will tell with this team, and at wide receiver, they are going to need more than just Cooks to be successful. The exciting part is any success will be a step forward in the current rebuilding of the team, which is what the ’21 season will be mostly about at this point in time.