There's no right or wrong way to handle handing out playing time to first year players in the NFL. It's often situational. And in the case of the Houston Texans, the situation that rookies Jayden Higgins, Jaylin Noel and Woody Marks walked into was one in which their team needed them to find ways to contribute in truly meaningful ways not long at all after their NFL dreams had been realized.
This isn't necessarily a position that Higgins, Noel or Marks expected to be in when the Texans selected them with the 34th, 79th and 116th picks respectively. Higgins and Noel were joining a wide receivers room with a clear-cut #1 option (Nico Collins), a veteran who projected to slide into the #2 role (Christian Kirk), a solid pass-catching tight end who has emerged as a security blanket for CJ Stroud (Dalton Schultz) and a third-year receiver from the same alma mater as Higgins and Noel who figured to have a leg up for the #4 spot in the pecking order (Xavier Hutchinson).
The story was similar for Marks, who arrived in Houston with Joe Mixon, Nick Chubb and Dameon Pierce appearing to be secured in their spots ahead of him on the Texans depth chart.
Of course, this isn't how things played out. Christian Kirk was limited throughout the majority of the season, setting up both Higgins and Noel to receive early playing time. By year's end, it was clear that both rookies had managed to earn more trust than Xavier Hutchinson had. For Marks, playing time opened up before the summer had even ended with Joe Mixon on the shelf with an injury that is still something of a mystery.
All things considered, the Houston Texans can come out of the 2025 season feeling reasonable optimistic about each of these three. Marks ended the season as Houston's leading rusher (703 yards), and he even showed the ability to contribute in the passing game, catching 24 passes for 208 yards and 3 touchdowns. With 911 yards of total offense, Marks was fifth among all rookie running backs in 2025.
Meanwhile, Jayden Higgins ended the season trailing only Nico Collins and Dalton Schultz in targets (68), receptions (41) and yards (525), and with 6 receiving touchdowns, Higgins tied Collins for the most scores among Texans pass-catchers. Although Jaylin Noel's numbers were modest compared to his rookie counterpart -- 26 receptions, 292 yards, 2 touchdowns -- the 3rd round pick has obviously established himself, just as Higgins did, as a key piece of Houston's future.
"Two really good players. Excited about their future," Texans general manager Nick Caserio said of Higgins and Noel during his year-end presser. "I think Higgins showed he's got a chance to be a really good player. He's as productive as any of our offensive skill players over the last month or two of the season. J-Noel showed what he can do in return game, probably will get some more opportunities here offensively [next year]. But, I mean, two good football players."
One thing for Higgins, Noel and Marks all to remember is that progress isn't necessarily linear, and even scarier than that, there's no guarantee any of these three players will ever be as productive again as they were this year. The aforementioned Dameon Pierce, who rushed for 939 yards as a rookie and only 735 yards during his subsequent two and a half seasons with the Texans, is a great cautionary tale.
To return to this level of success, and more importantly, to build from this season, the work for these three soon-to-be second year players needs to start in a hurry.
“For the young guys, especially our rookies, I thought all of our rookies contributed a lot to our season. They stepped in, stepped up and did some really nice things for us,” Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans explained. “I tell those guys, ‘Hey, you don't have long to rest. You have to get back to really training your bodies throughout the offseason.' That's where I've always seen the growth from Year 1 to Year 2 of guys that attack the offseason the right way, especially the winter offseason program."
The continued growth of these three players -- and for that matter, left tackle Aireontae Ersery as well -- is a necessity for a Texans squad that has major questions to answer offensively in the offseason and during the 2026 campaign.