Former NFL Pro Bowl running back and special teams dynamo Darren Sproles' presence might be one of the most underrated developments for the Houston Texans' offseason plans thus far. Being a member of the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship program, Sproles has taken up residence with the Texans this year in order to provide coaching assistance to the offensive skill position players as they embark on their collective journey to "put a bull on a ring" (meaning, win the Super Bowl).
Being a 15-year NFL veteran and a revolutionary as a player, Sproles helped to redefine what it meant to be an impact player in the NFL regardless of your size. Standing at an eye-catching height of 5-foot-6 and weighing about 190-lbs during his playing days, Sproles was one of the most prolific dual threat offensive players of all time.
To date, Sproles has the fifth-most all purpose yards in NFL history (19,696), as well as being a three-time Pro Bowler, All-Pro, member of the NFL 2010's All Decade Team (as a punt returner/flex) and a Super Bowl champion with the Philadelphia Eagles. He did this across his three stops with the then-San Diego Chargers, New Orleans Saints and the aforementioned Eagles.
So, it's safe to say that Sproles' arrival in Houston should be looked at as an exciting one, as his wealth of knowledge and winning experience should be looked at as gold by the litany of young skill position players that currently occupy the team. One in particular has seen his name come up several times as potentially being one of the biggest beneficiaries of Sproles' tutelage.
That being none other than second-year wide receiver and return man Jaylin Noel.
Jaylin Noel could be ignited by Darren Sproles' assistance
“I don’t get star struck very often but when Darren Sproles walked in, that was unique for me," opined special teams coordinator Frank Ross, as he spoke to the media after the Texans' latest OTA practice. He then opened up about Sproles already making an impact by coaching up his returners (Noel specifically) when he expressed,
He’s out here helping us coach our returners while he’s here. What he & I have been talking about is how can we get Jaylin [Noel] to slow down instead of try to circle everybody like he’s been doing his whole life. We’ve been doing some drills with him, he is tough, a worker & willing to listen. You’re going to see dividends of that come this season. When you have a guy like Jaylin, like Tank, we got a chance to go the distance.”
As a whole, Ross is expressing what has been a noticeable hole in Noel's return game, which is his propensity to overcomplicate his return path during return opportunities. This was evidenced by Ross' supplementary verbiage that Noel has been working to "cut vertically" while on the field.
This matches the eye-test, as one can argue that Noel has left a lot of meat on the proverbial "bone" in his playmaking chances by not emphasizing quick verticality when in open space. You can see the success it brings when you consider his best performances against teams like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Arizona Cardinals and Los Angeles Chargers, when Noel decided to "cut vertically" against his opponents to the tune of a 53-yard return, a 69-yard return and a 43-yard touchdown reception respectively.
Funny enough, Noel managed to still set the franchise mark for rookie punt return yards with 335. His play landed him at seventh-best in the NFL in the category, behind players like Marvin Mims Jr. (Denver Broncos), Chimere Dike (Tennessee Titans) and Rashid Shaheed (Seattle Seahawks).
Noel is an exciting player with high-potential, but his next steps include learning the mental game in order to truly leverage his talents into being one of the best swiss army knives in the entire league.
Jaylin Noel is multi-talented, just like Darren Sproles
Like Sproles before him, Noel has found use as both a weapon on the offense and on special teams. Even going back to his time at Iowa State, in the 2024 season, Noel was named the Big 12 Co-Special Teams Player of the Year and made First-Team All-Big 12 as a return specialist. At the same time, alongside fellow Iowa State receiver Jayden Higgins, he helped usher in one of the most productive periods of pass catching in school history during his four years on campus (which earned him an honorable mention by coaches as an All-Big 12 wide receiver).
Thus, the Texans knew exactly the kind of player that they were targeting with his selection in the third round at 79th-overall. With Sproles on staff, there's a chance that Noel gets the insight that he needs to truly open up another dimension to his game.
Will it result in him racking up the accolades that Sproles did in his time as a player? One can only hope. Yet, if Houston can finally unearth the kind of elite game breaking ability that Noel has shown flashes of this past season, then you can bet that their point scoring department should see a sizeable windfall of production as a result.
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