Should the Houston Texans be interested in a WR for the 2022 NFL Draft?
The Houston Texans have a plethora of draft picks for the 2022 NFL Draft, and one need for the offense is adding to the depth of wide receiver, as that would be an excellent addition to the progression of Davis Mills.
One wide receiver to keep an eye on and learn more about is Penn State senior Jahan Dotson, who is third all-time at PSU in receiving touchdowns with 23 to his credit in his career at Penn State.
In 12 games played this past season for the Nittany Lions, Dotson had 91 receptions for 1,182 yards and 12 touchdowns, averaging 13 yards per reception, and his longest catch this season was 86 yards. CBS Sports has Dotson ranked 18th overall in their draft player rankings.
As of the early January rankings by CBS Sports, the only two wide receivers ranked ahead of Dotson are Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave, both of Ohio State.
The 5-11, 184-pound Dotson had a heck of a career at Penn State, and looking at how he could be of value for the Houston Texans is interesting to say the least.
Currently the best wide receiver on the Texans is Brandin Cooks, and last year the Texans, with Nick Caserio as the general manager working his first draft for the franchise, selected Nico Collins in the third round at wide receiver as well.
Wide receiver must be a focus for the Texans as the rest of the wide receivers on the roster aren’t game changers, and are more suited for special teams play, which is an important part of the Texans being a solid team.
Taking a better look at Dotson, he’s being projected early in the draft process as a first-round pick, and with the two players from Ohio State ranked ahead of him, maybe the Texans – who currently have the third overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft – can trade back a little, add another selection and still be able to pick Dotson in the first round.
A lot has to be decided before something like that would occur, as the NFL Combine still awaits, and Pro Days for the draft-eligible players will take place closer to draft time. For Houston to select a wide receiver in the first round, that would mostly mean they will decide to give Davis Mills keys to the offense full-time in ’22.
Houston Texans: What would Dotson bring to the Houston offense?
For the Texans to be successful, and for Brandin Cooks to have some more room on the offense – sounds crazy, considering he has a 1,000-yard receiving season – Dotson would be an excellent addition to the team.
Dotson has the ability to break records as he did at Penn State in a game against Maryland where he caught for 242 yards and three receptions on 11 receptions, setting the single-game receiving yards record at PSU.
According to Pro Football Network’s scouting report of Dotson, written by Ian Cummings, the abilities Dotson brings to the field are more important than the fact he’s under 6 feet tall:
"“The Nittany Lions WR has good long-strider speed in open space, and he also has a subtle explosiveness in his game. He’s not a super-energetic mover, but he can gain speed unexpectedly quickly. When Dotson has space for his quick, long strides, he can be tough to keep up with.”"
While watching Penn State games this season, it was very easy to tell Dotson was one of the very best athletes on the field in any given game. He’s super impressive when going after the football, and his athleticism would be such a great addition to the Texans’ offense.
As said earlier, the Houston Texans need to revamp their wide receiver roster, and Dotson could be selected in the latter stages of the first round, and take time to imagine how exciting of an offense the Texans could have with a wide receiver trio of Cooks, Collins and Dotson in ’22. The guarantee with that trio is the Texans wouldn’t have so many scoreless third quarters like they had this season.